PORT ANGELES — Brad LaBrie, Peninsula Daily News sports editor and longtime journalist, died Saturday in Olympic Medical Center from complications following a massive stroke.
LaBrie had been in the critical care unit since Aug. 19, when he was taken to the hospital by ambulance after collapsing while leaving a restaurant in Port Angeles.
For 15 years, LaBrie’s coverage of North Olympic Peninsula high school and Peninsula College sports and his perspectives on everything from wrestling to football and baseball filled the pages of the PDN.
His stories were clipped from the paper by proud parents and framed, or glued into scrapbooks, while delighting and informing sports fans across the Peninsula.
“He particularly paid attention to the smaller sports, and he made sure all the teams got in-depth coverage,” said John Brewer, PDN publisher and editor.
“And if you won a title, you got a banner headline.
“High school sports is how many in our community mark time, and few marked it like Brad LaBrie as he wrote about players’ thrills and failures and the teams’ wins and losses.”
Vietnam veteran
LaBrie, 63, was born March 3, 1950, in Sacramento, Calif.
He attended Southwest Oregon Community College in Coos Bay, Ore., graduating with an associate degree in 1974, and the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore., graduating with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1978.
He was an Army radio operator, serving in Germany and Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
LaBrie worked as a reporter at the West-Lane News in Veneta, Ore.; sports editor and education reporter at the Del Norte Triplicate in Crescent City, Calif.; news editor at the Sandy Post in Sandy, Ore.; and as a sports editor at the Lake Oswego Review in Lake Oswego, Ore., and Peninsula Gateway in Gig Harbor before becoming sports editor of the PDN in 1998.
In addition to all sports, he enjoyed movies and reading, and he loved animals, especially cats.
He is survived by his wife, Sidra Johansen. The couple made their home in Port Angeles.
A celebration of life is pending.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
