‘He was a pioneer’: B.C. DIY expert and radio host Shell Busey dead at age 83

Shell Busey, the legendary media personality who made entertainment out of home improvement, is being remembered by friends and former colleagues as a visionary who didn’t just see the DIY revolution coming, he also built a place for it.

Sheldon Busey died peacefully in the early hours of Oct. 27 at age 83.

Born in Owen Sound, Ont., on Nov. 25, 1942, to a tool-and-die-maker, Busey had a natural affinity for carpentry, figuring things out and fixing things. Busey got a job at age 18 with the Beaver Lumber Co., and worked his way to senior management before moving to B.C., where he opened a successful Windsor Plywood franchise in Delta.

In 1983, Busey turned the skills he had developed in the building supply business to helping regular people when he picked up a slow Sunday morning time-slot for a home improvement call-in program, The Build-It Show on CJOR, a talk radio station in Vancouver. His deep, resonant voice was a perfect fit for radio. Busey was folksy, warm and knowledgeable, the honest guy next door who could fix anything or show you how to do it.

“Please give me a call,” he would say. Whether you wanted to know how to get the bounce out of your floors, seal your driveway, refinish your cabinetry or kill ants, he was the guy who knew everything about everything. Once the calls started coming, they didn’t stop. From 1983 to 2011, his Home Discovery Show and B.C. Hydro Home Ideas Show on CKNW were a hit.

“He really was a pioneer,” said Janet Brown, a former journalist who worked with Busey at CKNW. “Nobody in the country was doing a home improvement radio call-in show. Long before social media or cellphones. Long before DIY became a trend. He knew how to do stuff.”

He also knew how to relate to people.

“Everybody was important to Shell. He made you feel really special. It wasn’t phoney, it was genuine and sincere.”

Busey’s show was picked up and broadcast throughout the Corus network, but for Brown, it was one particular segment that showed her just how popular Busey was, something that may have had to do with his folksy relatability. One Sunday morning they were both at work and Brown was asking Busey how to do something, and quipped: “My husband is completely useless. How can I fix it myself?”

Busey promptly went on the air and relayed that conversation to his listeners.

“Friends started calling from across the province,” said Brown.

Not only did the whole province know that her husband wasn’t handy, the big surprise was just how many people were listening.

“Everybody listened to him on Sunday morning,” said Brown. “You could phone Shell about anything, painting your house or finding a contractor, he seemed to know how to do everything. If he didn’t know he would take your name and number and contact you later, off air.”

Gord MacDonald, a former CKNW news director, called Busey a visionary and a phenomenon.

“He was a pioneer in do-it-yourself, something we now take for granted,” said MacDonald. “People forget what it was like before there was an internet.”