Joseph Andrew Carbury

It is with profound sadness that we announce that the voice of a Calgary legend fell silent on Tuesday, October 17, 2017. Surrounded by loved ones, Joe Carbury passed away at the age of 91 from the effects of a recent stroke. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba to Peter and Susan Carrabre, Joe was the youngest of six children. At 17, he followed in his older brothers' footsteps and joined the Royal Canadian Navy where he was assigned to merchant ships as a Convoy Signalman on the North Atlantic run. For the last two years of WWII, five Carrabre brothers served in active duty in the Navy.

It was after the war that his sister, Kathleen, legally changed the spelling of her surname to "Carbury" after being frustrated with people misspelling the name. Joe followed suit and from then on became known as "Joe Carbury."

His professional broadcasting career began in 1948 at the CHAT radio station in Medicine Hat as a play-by-play sports announcer for the Medicine Hat Tigers junior hockey team.

While working in the city, Joe met Rose Renner, a nurse he would go on to marry on July 16, 1949. It was a marriage that would last over 60 years until Rose passed away on March 11, 2011.

After leaving Medicine Hat behind in 1950, Joe and Rose relocated to Edmonton where he became Sports Director of CJCA radio and then in 1953, a move to Calgary saw him joining CKXL in the same role. During these years, Joe truly covered it all: play-by-play for the Edmonton Eskimos, and Calgary Stampeders, junior and professional hockey, boxing, semi-pro baseball and even curling. It was also during this exciting time that Joe and Rose would welcome their daughters, Coleen and Kathleen. In 1959, his broadcasting career took him and his family out east where he was the play-by-play announcer for the Hamilton Tiger Cats; however, he missed the west and returned to Calgary in 1961 to work for CFAC radio.

In 1963, he covered a few thoroughbred races at Stampede Park that aired on CFAC. After a member of the racing association heard his commentary, he was asked to be the official thoroughbred announcer. This sparked the beginning of a career he would be best known for. In 1964, the Stampede asked him to announce the evening chuckwagon races. Always putting his best foot forward, Joe made it a priority to get to know as much as he could about the drivers, and add bits of history and anecdotes into his announcing to bring it to life for the spectators. "Joe had a special connection with people. He was not only close with those he worked with, but also industry people, chuckwagon drivers and their families. He could tell you the names of their kids and grandkids," said the Stampede's Keith Marrington, a co­worker and personal friend of Joe's for many years. After calling around 30,000 horse races and 5,000 chuckwagon races over the decades, Joe, who was a member of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2003, signed off from his beloved perch, the Eye in the Sky at the Stampede grandstand, on July 8, 2008. "I'm thinking, God, I'm going to miss these people," he said on that emotional day. In an interview before his retirement, Joe was quoted as saying: "My feeling is there should never be a dull chuckwagon race - as long as I'm calling it". Close friend Jack MacDonald says he'll remember Carbury's great sense of humour, dedication to being the best at his job and unwavering loyalty. "If you were Joe's friend, you were his friend forever," says MacDonald, a fellow radio announcer and Stampede colour host. It is likely his trademark "there's the horn! And they're Off!" that Calgarians will remember best.

In honour of his contributions to sports as a Radio Broadcaster, Joe received the Bell Memorial Award and was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

When he was not at the track, Joe created many happy memories with his wife, daughters and grandchildren, Amanda and Garratt, at their holiday home in lnvermere, BC. Joe was particularly proud of his grandchildren, and his happiest memories were of times spent with both watching them grow to become amazing young adults. Joe also enjoyed many laughs and good times at lnvermere with his close friend Billy Hay, where they shared the occasional rum and coke and managed to get into lots of mischief which gave rise to enduring memories they both shared over the years. Rose and Joe would head to their favourite destination of Maui for many years to escape the Calgary winters. During his last years, Joe experienced several medical challenges which he handled with courage, humour and a strong will to live. During his final days, he was alert, making jokes and enjoyed a final beer and scotch with his friends and family.

We may not be able to hear that recognizable voice calling another race or telling another joke that he loved but he will forever be remembered by his brother Tom, daughters Coleen (Jim) and Kathleen (Al) and grandchildren Amanda (Braden) and Garratt (Elin). Joe was predeceased by his wife Rose; parents, Peter and Susan; and siblings Jim, John, Pat and Kathleen.

We would like to thank the staff at the Belcher Care Centre, where Joe spent his final years, for their loving care, kindness and support.

A Celebration of Joe's Life will be held at FOSTER’S GARDEN CHAPEL, 3220 – 4 Street N.W., Calgary (across from Queen’s Park Cemetery), on Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. Memorial donations may be made directly to the Carewest Colonel Belcher, 1939 Veterans Way NW, Calgary, AB T3B 5Y8. Expressions of sympathy may be forwarded to the family via the website www.fostersgardenchapel.ca.