Ralph Trapnell Snelgrove (June 11, 1914 – March 27, 1990) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

radio and television pioneer who obtained one of the first television licences issued in Canada and built

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

station

CKVR-TV CKVR-DT (channel 3) is a television station in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the CTV 2 system. It is owned and operated by Bell Media alongside Toronto-based CTV outlet CFTO-DT, channel 9 (although the two stations ...

Barrie, Ontario Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

. Born in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Snelgrove was employed by Metropolitan Broadcasting in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

before becoming manager of AM radio station

CFOS CFOS is an AM radio station broadcasting from Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. The format is oldies, classic adult contemporary music, and news (plus an adult standards/nostalgic music show, "Remember When," several nights a week from 8-11 p.m.), ...

Owen Sound, Ontario Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attractio ...

in 1940. He moved to Barrie to set up the town's first radio station

CKBB CIQB-FM (101.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Barrie, Ontario. The station uses the on-air brand name ''Big 101'' and is owned by Corus Entertainment, which also owns sister station CHAY-FM. CIQB broadcasts a classic hits format, switching ...

, which launched on August 31, 1949. Six years later, Snelgrove launched CKVR-TV with call letters representing his wife's name and his own (Valerie and Ralph). In 1965, he founded

Collingwood, Ontario Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay. Collingwood is well known as a tourist destination, for its skiing in the winter, and limestone caves along the Nia ...

's first radio station, CKCB (AM). Snelgrove sold his television stations to

Allan Waters Allan Waters (August 11, 1921 – December 3, 2005) was a Canadian businessman and media icon. Waters was one of the founders of CHUM Limited, a Canadian media corporation. Waters worked in a drug company and quit in 1954 and with partner Jerry G ...

in 1969 and became a director of Waters' company,

CHUM Limited CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in 1954. CHU ...

. He sold his radio stations to Kawartha Broadcasting in 1983. Snelgrove was the first president of the Central Canada Broadcasters Association and served as president of the

Canadian Association of Broadcasters The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is a trade association representing the interests of commercial radio and television broadcasters in Canada. It is co-located with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council in Ottawa. It was first e ...

in 1948. In politics, he served as an alderman in Barrie and was also a school trustee. As well, Snelgrove was president of the Greater Barrie Chamber of Commerce. He received an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...

from

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the c ...

in 1981 and was inducted into the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1985. Snelgrove died in 1990 at age 75. One of his sons is

Timothy Snelgrove Timothy's World Coffee (a.k.a. Timothy's) is a large Canada, Canadian coffee roasting company and Chain store, chain of Coffeehouse, coffeeshops. Origin and background Timothy's was founded in 1975 as a retailer of premium roasted coffee beans by ...

, founder of

Timothy's World Coffee Timothy's World Coffee (a.k.a. Timothy's) is a large Canadian coffee roasting company and chain of coffeeshops. Origin and background Timothy's was founded in 1975 as a retailer of premium roasted coffee beans by Timothy Snelgrove and his wife T ...

External links

Tribute to Ralph Snelgrove
made by Simcoe Centre

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

MPP MPP or M.P.P. may refer to: * Marginal physical product * Master of Public Policy, an academic degree * Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), Canada * Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape), South Africa * ''Merriweather Post Pavilion ...

Bruce Owen Bruce Owen (May 24, 1931 – February 7, 2022) was a Canadian lawyer and politician in Ontario. He served as a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990, representing Simcoe Centre for the ...

at his death in 1990
Biography of Ralph Snelgrove at the Canadian Communications Foundation
1914 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Canadian businesspeople Ontario school board trustees Barrie city councillors {{Canada-business-bio-stub, Snelgrove, Ralph