[PPRAANet] SK from 12 years ago

[Dennis Major]

I was quite surprised to find an email from Legacy.com, via my arrl . 
net address, in my inbox early this morning. It was inviting me to share 
another memory about Thomas (Tom) McDaniel, N0NTX, on the anniversary of 
his passing (July 2, 2007). I had been unemployed at the time, so I had 
ample opportunity to write my thoughts and share them on that web site. 
Rather than post a follow-up there, where I doubt many people would see 
it, I thought I would share my original memory to the club's reflector:


"I was shocked and saddened, and I had many other emotions, when I 
learned of Tom's passing. Although I did not know much of Tom's personal 
life, I had known him through his longtime and consistent involvement 
with the Pikes Peak Radio Amateur Association and ham radio in general, 
for the past 12 years that I have also been a "ham". His callsign, 
NØNTX, is known to most every local ham.

I knew that he had been in the USAF, and I thought that he was retired 
from the Air Force, however, I always thought that he had been an 
officer. Now I find out that he was a retired Chief Master Sergeant. 
Well, from the 12 years that I have known Tom, he was certainly a 
gentleman - perhaps that was why I suspected he had been an officer.

Tom had been the vice president for the ham radio club (PPRAA) the year 
prior to my serving in the same position, a few years ago. To underscore 
Tom's active involvement in ham radio, and the PPRAA, I would like to 
mention that Tom was always there - at meetings, at public service 
events, at planning sessions and setup parties for the club's annual 
swapfest, at Field Day, etc. I could go on. EVERY year, a couple of 
months prior to Field Day, Tom enthusiastically solicited orders for 
Field Day T-shirts and pins (never expecting payment until the 
merchandise arrived).

Tom's attendance at the club meetings was so extremely consistent, and 
he always sat in the same general vicinity each month (as so many of us 
do), that when there was an occasion when he didn't make it to a 
meeting, it was very obvious and someone would always remark about his 
absence. We have a club meeting this Wednesday night (7/11/07), and it 
will be a very sad and somber meeting.

I always presumed that Tom was just a little older than myself (turns 
out to be 5 years), but I had wanted to find out. After I heard about 
Tom's death, I looked up his callsign on one of the databases. Now, I 
had always assumed, from Tom's heavy involvement in ham radio and the 
club, that he was probably a General, Advanced or Amateur Extra (license 
classes) ham radio operator. I was surprised to find out that he was a 
Technician class ham, and he probably was originally licensed in the 
early 90's. Please note that I did not say "only" or "just" when 
referring to the Technician class of license. For Tom's avid interest in 
satellites, that class of license afforded him practically everything he 
needed, to do what he wanted.

Tom, you will certainly be missed! I don't know how to put a very large 
"73" ("best regards") in here, but consider it done.

Dennis Major
NØABC"



The Legacy link: 
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/thomas-mcdaniel-obituary?pid=90335176


-- 

73

Dennis Major, N0ABC
Laurel ARC VEC, Region #10 Coordinator
PPRAA VE Team Leader