[CW] Obituary W6BNB

Mon Apr 16 17:32:14 EDT 2012

I hope the subscribers don't mind me posting this here.  Bob was a dear old
friend of any that knew him.  He had a fascinating life.

W6BNB

Please read about the last photograph in the Obituary itself.  Amazing!

DR

* *

*SHRADER, Robert L.*

* *

The world has lost one of the most amazing men who ever lived, and our
family has lost a marvelous husband, father, grandfather and
great-grandfather.

Born in Oakland, CA October 20, 1913, Bob  passed away quickly and
peacefully at age 98 with his family at his side on April 11, 2012 in the
home that he and his wife built near Freestone, CA.  It was time for him to
go.  He had done everything a man could do in a lifetime.

Bob “W6BNB” is survived by Dorothy “W6ECU”, his loving, devoted wife and
constant companion for over 71 years of marriage.  Also survived by son
Doug “KJ6TEJ” (Juanita) of Santa Rosa, daughter Patricia (Tom) Niles of
Owego, NY, grandson Scott (Erin) Niles, granddaughters Kristen Shrader and
Dawn (Sadegh) Yazdi, great-grandson Jake Niles and great-granddaughters
Leah Niles, Hanna Yazdi and Parisa Yazdi.

Starting at the age of 10 by building crystal radio sets, he began the
pursuit of his lifelong passion for wireless radio communication and
electronics which began while on a cruise to Hawaii with his parents in
1923.  The ship’s radio operator was a man from Sebastopol, Earl Wohler,
who invited Bob up to the ship’s radio room.  Thus began a lifelong
friendship that lasted many decades until Earl’s passing.  Upon graduation
from high school Bob obtained his amateur radio license, W6BNB, and became
a licensed commercial radio operator.  This was at the height of the Great
Depression.  Jobs were scarce but he was hired on as a shipboard
radio-telegraph officer for the Dollar Lines, something unheard of for
someone so young.  Over the next several years he sailed around the world 6
times and trans-Pacific many more.  Oh, the stories he has told about
adventures in exotic ports-of-call all around the globe.

In 1939 Bob became a deputy sheriff in Alameda County in charge of
radiotelegraph operations.  He married the only love of his life, Dorothy
Fox, in 1941.  At the beginning of WWII he began teaching radio and
electronics to cadets on Treasure Island.  He was assigned the rank of
Lieutenant in the US Maritime Service and soon moved to King’s Point, NY,
where he instructed cadets at the US Merchant Marine Academy.  He returned
to his sheriff’s position at the end of the war, but soon found his calling
teaching electronics at Oakland Central Trade School, later known as Laney
College.  Bob turned his teaching materials into one of McGraw-Hill’s top
selling textbooks, “Electronic Communications”, published in 1959 and in
continuous production through edition 6 in 1991.  This book was followed by
many others, published in several languages.

He retired and moved to Sebastopol in 1969 and built his home 5 miles west
of town at the top of a hill among towering redwood groves.  Bob continued
authoring books and publishing numerous technical articles for national
magazines. He joined the Freestone Fire Department in 1969 and quickly
advanced from firefighter to Captain to Chief of the department.  He
orchestrated the merger of Freestone FD and Twin Hills FD in 1978 and
served as President of the Twin Hills Executive Board after that.  In 1997
he wrote and published “Fire Fighting, How It’s Done”.

Bob was the founder and member of local, national and international radio
organizations and the recipient of awards and honors too numerous to list.  At
the age of 97 he researched and wrote “A Freestone Area Story”.  He was
active and alert until his final day.  The photo above was taken one day
prior to his passing.  You could see the sparkle in his eyes the moment he
put on his old Merchant Marine officers cap.  There will never be another
like him.

There will be no services.  If you would like to honor Bob’s memory, the
family suggests making a donation to:  Mid-Florida Multiple Sclerosis  2701
Maitland Center Pkwy, Suite 100   Orlando, FL 32751

73

David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA <http://www.qsl.net/n1ea/>
SOWP <http://www.sowp.org/>, VWOA <http://www.vwoa.org/>,
OOTC<http://www.ootc.us/>,
FISTS <http://www.fists.co.uk/>, CW-Ops <http://www.cwops.org/>,
CFO<http://groups.google.com/group/Chicken-Fat-Operators-Club?hl=en>,
A1-OP <http://www.arrl.org/a-1-op>, ex-FOC 1271 ARRL-LM<http://www.arrl.org/>
 Chat Skype: djringjr MSN: djringjr at msn.com AIM: N1EA icq: 27380609
 Radio-Officers Google
Group<http://groups.google.com/group/radio-officers?hl=en>-- Marine
Morse Historic Recordings Page <http://www.qsl.net/n1ea/>
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