Tom Nevens, who spent more than 42 years of his career working at the St. Catharines Standard, died from a heart attack on September 3. He was 79 years old.
According to a tribute published in the Standard, Nevens got his first job as a reporter in 1958, working at a newspaper in the Newcastle Upon Tyne area of England.
Nevens moved to Canada in 1963, and after a short but eventful year or so working in Halifax — it included being aboard a Navy helicopter in Halifax when U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated — he moved to St. Catharines where he landed a job at The Standard, drawn to Niagara in part because of his interest in the Welland Canal.
Through his many experiences in the years since, Nevens became highly regarded among his peers for his encyclopedic knowledge of journalism — and pretty much everything else.
He retired from The Standard in 2006.
Several of his colleagues paid tribute to him in the piece. We’d recommend giving it a read in remembrance of an exceptional journalist.
