[Elecraft] TOM HAMMOND, N0SS, SILENT KEY

[Tom McMahan]

Tim:

Per your comment, I am pasting below a copy of Tom's obituary from the
funeral home.  There is a link to the funeral home website for those who
wish to leave notes of condolences.

This is my first posting to the reflector.  I joined when I heard there were
so many nice comments about Tom on the site.  I have been very impressed!
Even though I knew how hard he worked with the Elecraft community and how
well appreciated he was, I was still so pleasantly surprised.  I know his
XYL, Jeri, would love to hear from the crowd.

Tom and I were lifelong buddies and got our Novice tickets together in the
spring of 1958, he as KN0RPH and me as KN0QMY.  We have stayed in touch all
these years, now mostly on the landline, Skype or email.  But, we used to
have regular skeds in days of old.  Tom would have to QRS to  what for him
must have seemed a snail's pace for me to copy, but he never complained and
always urged me to op more and pick up my speed.  My ham radio operation
anymore is pretty much limited to the rig on my boat, and Tom was always
there when we were offshore and out of landline range to relay messages to
the family.  He was always there as well to help debug equipment, and his
electronics knowledge was so impressive.

Good luck to all the Elecraft community.  Tom always wanted me to get a K-3.
Think I may just do it!  I will most certainly miss Tom, N0SS!!!

73,
Tom, K1FR
Alexandria, VA
K1FR at ARRL.NET

Tom's Obituary:

THOMAS SINCLAIR HAMMOND


Jefferson City, Missouri
April 23, 1944 - August 4, 2011


Thomas Sinclair Hammond, 67, of Jefferson City, died Thursday, August 4,
2011, at his residence surrounded by his family.

He was born on April 23, 1944, in Washington, D.C., the son of the late
Ralph Wiltson and Kathryn Ellen Sinclair Hammond.

He was married on July 20, 1968, in Jefferson City to Jeriann Stricker who
survives at the home.

Tom was a 1962 graduate of Jefferson City High School, attended William
Jewell College, and received the Bachelor of Science in Business
Administration degree from Lincoln University in 1968.

He retired in 1995 as Assistant Director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
of the Missouri Department of Employment Security where he had been employed
for twenty-eight years.  During high school he was employed with the
Missouri Highway Patrol Dispatch Center where he was one of the last Morse
Code operators.

Known throughout the world by the call sign of N0SS, Tom was a
Federally-licensed Amateur Radio operator holding the highest license grade
of Extra Class.  His specialty was the International Morse Code which he
employed on a daily and nightly basis at a proficiency level in excess of
fifty words per minute.  During the fifty-three years of his ham radio
career, he personally conducted numerous licensing classes which resulted in
hundreds of individuals of all ages obtaining their Amateur Radio licenses.
Experienced ham operators with technical expertise frequently sought out Tom
Hammond's advice for resolution of complex electronic problems. 

He was a life member/fifty-year member of the American Radio Relay League
and a member by invitation of the First Class Operators Club (FOC).  He was
a member of the Kansas City DX Club; International DX Foundation; CW
Operators Club; Amateur Radio Emergency Services, and for many years was
coordinator of the local Certified Volunteer Examiner program.  He was also
an avid contester who received numerous awards in various competitive
categories. 

A past president and current Trustee of the Mid-MO Amateur Radio Club, Tom
was instrumental in keeping the club alive during a period of transition
during the 1970s.  Beginning with the company's founding in 1998, he served
as a designer, trouble-shooter, and Beta-Tester for Elecraft, Inc., of
Aptos, California, a manufacturer of high-quality amateur radio equipment.

Tom was a fifty-year blood donor for the American Red Cross, and was Reunion
Coordinator for Jefferson City High School Class of 1962 which has
continuously met on a monthly basis since their twenty-fifth class reunion
in 1987. 

A little-known pastime was his enjoyment of Yo-Yo's acquired since winning
second-place at the age of twelve in the 1956 Jefferson City Yo-Yo
competition.

Other survivors include three daughters, Cristina (Claes) Lillig, Columbia,
Mo.; Katherine (Todd) McDonald, Columbia, Mo.; and Nancy (Shawn) Pope,
Jefferson City; four grandchildren, Evelyn Lillig, Toby Lillig, Zeke Pope,
and Xander Pope; and four cousins, Anne Ruthven, Bandera, Texas; Malcolm
(Mick) Ruthven, Sausalito, Calif.; John Hammond, Chesterfield, Mo.; and Jane
Hammond, Boulder, Colo.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 13, 2011, at
Dulle-Trimble Funeral Home with the Rev. Kent W. Trimble officiating. 

Burial will be in Riverview Cemetery.

Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Friday, August 12th, at Dulle-Trimble Funeral
Home. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the American Radio Relay
League Scholarship Fund, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111; Capital City
Chapter of the American Red Cross, 431 E. McCarty Street, Jefferson City, MO
65101; or a charity of the donor's choice.

Those wishing to email tributes or condolences to the family, may do so at
the www.dulletrimble.com website.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tim O'Rourke [mailto:w4yn at earthlink.net]
> Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 12:44 PM
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] TOM HAMMOND, N0SS, SILENT KEY
> 
>  Very Very sad news, will miss yea OM!
> My K2 and other projects benifitted form his expertise and unending
> devotion to Amature Radio.
> Hope someone will post info on contacting family with condolences.
> Tim W4YN
> 
> Tim O'Rourke
> W4YN at ARRL.Net
> Low Power Amateur Radio Rocks
> Member of Flying Pigs,ARCI,GQRP,RSGB,ARRL Life Member
> NHRA Life Member
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