Walter Gray

Walter Gray, Mayor of the City of Kelowna, and retired radio station owner, was born in Victoria, BC on September 4, 1940. His family moved to Kelowna in 1946 and in 1957 he graduated from Kelowna Secondary School. In 1966, he married Doreen and together their family grew with a daughter, Brenda, and three sons: Dallas, Stuart and Rodney.

Walter Gray began his radio career at CKOV Kelowna in 1957. He worked as on-air staff member at CHBC-TV in Kelowna in 1964 and then he and his business partner, Bob Hall, established radio stations in Salmon Arm and Revelstoke in 1965. In 1971, he established CKIQ Radio and The Bullet in 1995 in Kelowna.

As well as managing both stations, Walter Gray was President of Four Seasons Radio Ltd. which owned and operated five radio stations in the Okanagan and Kootenays. In 1993, Walter Gray was named Broadcaster of the Year by the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters. He sold his interests in his radio stations in 1996. He is currently a Director of Sun Country Cablevision Ltd. with stations in Salmon Arm, Enderby and Armstrong.

Walter Gray’s service for his community began in 1975 when he was the Founding Director for the Kelowna Snowfest Committee. Between 1975 to 1998, he served as President of the Okanagan Neurological Association.

President of the BC Association of Broadcasters, President of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, President of the Kelowna/Kasugai Sister City Association, Director of Telefilm Canada, Chairman of the Okanagan University College Bold Horizons. Director of the Okanagan Film Commission, and currently as Director of BC Transit, Member of Premier Campbell’s Task Force on Homelessness, Mental Illness and Addictions, and Member of the BC Achievement Awards Advisory Panel.

In 1986, Walter Gray was elected as City Councillor for the City of Kelowna and served until 1990. In 1996, he was elected Mayor for his first of three consecutive 3-year terms, being re-elected in 1999 and 2002.

BC Radio History