David Rooney, the editor of the Revelstoke Current and former editor of this newspaper, passed away at his home on Friday.
Through his work as an editor and a volunteer, Rooney was a big part of the community.
His friend and contributor Laura Stovel reported the sad news to the community in an article on the Current Saturday morning.
Rooney grew up in eastern Canada but also spent time in Latin America as a youth. He started his career in journalism in 1976 and worked for the Canadian Press, Calgary Herald, Banff Crag & Canyon, and as a freelancer before moving to Revelstoke. He also taught journalism at Mount Royal College and published the book Reporting and Writing for Canadian Journalists in 2000.
Rooney moved to Revelstoke in 2002 to be the editor of the Times Review. He spent six years at the newspaper before going to work as a constituent assistant for MP Jim Abbott in 2008. He balked at moving to Cranbrook and instead stayed in Revelstoke to work on Mark McKee’s unsuccessful run for the B.C. legislature the following year.
In 2009, he started the Revelstoke Current, an online publication, which was very rare at the time in the world of community journalism. The Current had a very hyper-local focus and was an outlet for countless stories, no matter how small they were.
Beyond his role as a journalist, he was a painter and volunteered with numerous community organizations.
He faced health issues in recent years and was hospitalized several times for heart problems.