Andy Mantha
Issue #85 - December 9, 2020
This edition of Sky Studio is dedicated to Andy Mantha
who joined former colleagues in Sky Studio, December 7, 2020.
The obituary announcement reminds us, “Andy was born in North Bay and made Sault Ste. Marie his home. He was a member of the Sault Greyhounds and played in one of the first games in Sault Memorial Gardens when it opened in 1949. He provided colour commentary on the radio broadcast of the junior Greyhounds for many years and was a proud and intensely loyal follower and season ticket holder of the Greyhounds before and after his association with the radio broadcasts.”
Long time sports writer Randy Russon says, “Andy was a real gentleman who was always nice to talk to and interact with. He was not shy to give his commentary on the Greyhounds and the way the game was going during the play-by-play broadcasts with Harry Wolfe on CKCY. But he always offered his commentary without demeaning a young player. As a young broadcaster who started working part time at CKCY in 1975, I remember meeting Andy for one of the first times, in the old media room, before a Greyhound game and he went out of his way to introduce himself to me. He was kind and considerate and friendly, albeit in a quiet way.”
In his Sault This Week column from January 2020, Randy wrote about a 1978 hockey program in his files.
"At the time the venerable, quirky George Jonescu was the sports director for the Huron Broadcasting chain of stations. I was George’s full-time assistant back then and Peter Ruicci was a part-time assistant while attending school at Lake Superior State University.
“The department also included morning radio sportscaster Paul Leonard as well as Harry Wolfe, Matt Thorp and Andy Mantha, who handled the Soo Greyhounds, Ontario Hockey League play-by-play broadcasts on CKCY 920 AM.”
Bill Crawford, past sports editor at both the Sault Evening News and Sault Star, also worked in local radio for many years in broadcasting, sales and advertising later retired as VP University Relations/Marketing at Laker State University. He recalls, “Andy Mantha was a knowledgeable hockey man, a capable commentator and a genuinely nice guy who brought that personality to the Greyhounds' press room, press box and broadcasts.”
In addition to his sports and broadcasting contributions, Andy was very involved in his community on various civic committees as well as being a Sault Golf and Country Club board member.
Hockey News North story
http://www.hockeynewsnorth.com/aaa/rip-andy-mantha/
Special Announcements
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/en-ca/obituaries/sault-ste-marie-on/andre-mantha-9934922
MANTHA, Andre (Andy) Joseph - Obituary - Sault Ste. Marie - SooToday.com