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Curling legend and veteran CBC reporter Colleen Jones has died following a battle with cancer. She was 65.
Jones won world women’s championships in 2001 and 2004 and was a six-time Canadian women’s champion. Jones made 21 appearances at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts national championships and played more Scotties games than any curler in Canadian history.
She also skipped Canada to the world senior women’s championship in 2017.
She was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
She was also a fixture on CBC News for nearly 40 years as a reporter and host, bringing stories of everyday Canadians with extraordinary stories to viewers.
She retired from broadcasting in 2023 after a career that broke barriers — when she joined CBC in 1986, Jones was the first female sports anchor in Halifax.
By then, Jones was already a curling champion. In 1979, at the age of 19, she won the first of 16 provincial women’s titles, and a silver medal at that year’s Canada Games.
Camera operator Brian MacKay worked closely with Colleen Jones at CBC Nova Scotia in Halifax for 15 years. Jones died on Tuesday after a battle with cancer.
She also claimed the title of the youngest skip ever to win a Canadian women’s title in 1982.
She said being known as a sports figure helped her be accepted in what, at the time, was a male-dominated field.
She went on to cover 10 Olympic Games over the span of her broadcasting career, reporting from Atlanta to Pyeongchang.
Decorated East Coast curler Colleen Jones is adding another honour to her list of accomplishments: member of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
This past June, she was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame as an individual athlete. She had already been inducted in 2011 as part of her team, which included Nancy Delahunt, Mary-Anne Arsenault and Kim Kelly.
At the time, Jones told CBC News that sport helped her create a dream.
“For me, it was overshooting the runway of that dream, and doing more than I thought was possible,” she said.
“Women can dream these dreams, too, of building a career through sport.”
Jones said it has been gratifying in recent years to watch the growth of women’s sports, from basketball to hockey to soccer.
“I think persevering in everything in life is a character trait we all need to develop,” she said. “Be strong today and have gratitude for it.”
In recognition of how she paved the way for women in sport and broadcasting, Jones was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2022.
Jones also coached curling following her retirement from CBC, coaching her own son’s team at the Brier, the Canadian men’s championship, earlier this year.
“I always wanted to play at the Brier so to be here as a coach is a dream come true,” she said.
The two-time world champion and six-time national champion curler and CBC reporter died at the age of 65, following a bout with cancer.
Her family announced her death in a social media post on Tuesday.
Her son, Luke, said she died late that morning, surrounded by family, “while looking out on the ocean from her favourite spot in Maders Cove.”
In her 2015 autobiography, Throwing Rocks at Houses: My Life in and out of Curling, Jones said surviving a serious case of bacterial meningitis in 2010 made her strive for balance in life.
“My feeling is: Do the things that make us happy now, because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. Appreciate life, don’t sweat the small stuff, and enjoy the ride.
“People say that all the time, but I plan to really live my life that way.”
Jones is survived by her husband, Scott Saunders, her sons Zach and Luke, and one grandson.
