CPRS Hamilton loses its PR Pioneer
Louis J. Cahill ‘Dean of Public Relations’ passes away at 94
From Rick Mauro, APR
-with files from OEB Enterprise; The St. Catharines Standard and The Hamilton Spectator
ST. CATHARINES - Louis J. Cahill, APR, FCPRS, the man to whom scores of public relations professionals turned to for guidance, advice and mentorship, passed way Nov 12. He was 94.
With a career spanning seven decades, his passion for public relations, his church, his community and his clients kept him coming to the office until he was 91.
Known as the “Dean of public relations in Canada”, Mr. Cahill garnered just about every professional honour possible during his storied career of catapulting public relations into a recognized profession. Among them was the 2004 CPRS Hamilton Outstanding Achievement Award. The board of directors was so taken by his accomplishments; they renamed the award in his honour.
Lou began eking out his niche as a communications legend in 1932 when, at 18, he was hired as a sports reporter at The Standard. Four years later, he established the Niagara News Bureau, known today as OEB Enterprise, providing news and feature stories to newspapers throughout North America.
Cahill’s client list during his career read like a “who’s who of corporate Canada,” Arden Phair, curator of the St. Catharines Museum said in a St. Catharines Standard article. It included the Bank of Canada, the Ontario Paper Company — a relationship that lasted 50 years — Port Weller Dry Docks and the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival.
Denis Cahill, a staff photographer at The Standard, said his father’s passion for the communications business had a profound influence on the family. Cahill’s daughter, Nancy Leger, studied broadcast arts at Ryerson University and spent much of her career working in television in Montreal. His grandson, Christopher Waters, was The Standard’s entertainment reporter and co-founded Vines Magazine, about the wine industry. Another grandson, Dan Leger, is also an established public relations practitioner.
During his career, there was little that Cahill didn’t seem to have a hand in.
He served as the local press officer for the Royal visit by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939. He created the P. Eng designation for professional engineers, now used throughout the world. In 1948, Cahill organized the first live television broadcast in Canada. He co-founded WorldCom Canada and WorldCom Group, the largest and most successful network of independent public relations companies in the world with 114 member firms operating in 94 cities on five continents.
Cahill and OEB were heavily involved in the founding of Brock University in 1964. Brock returned the favour in 1991 by awarding Cahill an honorary doctorate.
One of Cahill’s proudest moments was receiving the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award in 1995, the highest honour for a lay person in the Catholic Church.
The family has requested that donations be made to the Lou Cahill Scholarship in Communications. The scholarship was established in 2006 by OEB Enterprise on the firm’s 60th anniversary, through the Communications and Public Relations Foundation, which is the charitable foundation of the Canadian Public Relations Society. It is awarded annually to a student graduating from Brock University’s Communications program who has demonstrated commitment to academic excellence, community involvement and charitable activities - qualities that were so important to Mr. Cahill throughout his life.
In honour of Mr. Cahill’s outstanding achievements in public relations and his outstanding contributions to the profession, CPRS Hamilton has made a $500 donation to the Lou Cahill Scholarship in Communications.
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