[PPRAANet] Remembering Tom McDaniel N0NTX

[Dennis N0ABC]

Received an email from Legacy.com this morning, reminding me that it has 
been 13 years (!) since Tom passed. I don't know how many of the current 
subscribers to the reflector would remember him, but I am sure there are 
some.

If you are interested, here is the write-up, along with my note:

Thomas Leslie McDaniel, 59, of Colorado Springs, died July 2, 2007, at 
his home in Colorado Springs. Born, October 10, 1947, in Manhattan, KS, 
Thomas was a 23 year veteran of the United States Air Force. He retired 
from the Air Force to Colorado Springs in1991. Thomas was very active in 
the Pikes Peak Amateur Radio Club since his retirement from the Air 
Force including holding office. His involvement in the club included 
providing volunteer communications at many local events including the 
Pikes Peak Hill Climb, and various charity walking and biking events. He 
also provided numerous seminars on satellite communications for amateur 
radio. He was preceded in death by his father Thomas L. McDaniel, Sr. He 
is survived by his mother Ima L. McDaniel of Lee's Summit, MO, sisters; 
Amy (Charles) Cothern of Colorado Springs, Joyce (Frank) Lobingier of 
Independence, MO, brothers; James (Ann) McDaniel of Lee's Summit, MO and 
Cameron McDaniel of Colorado Springs, nephews Justin and Keagen Cothern 
of Colorado Springs and nieces Melia and Sara McDaniel of Lee's Summit, 
MO and many loving Aunts, Uncles, cousins and friends. The Memorial 
Service will be held at 2:00 pm Monday, July 9, 2007 at the Mount View 
Mortuary, 2350 Montebello Square Drive in Colorado Springs.


July 9, 2007
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

-- 
73

Dennis Major, N0ABC
Laurel ARC VEC, Regional Coordinator #10 / Ø
(CO, IA, KS, MN, MO, ND, NE, SD)
Pikes Peak Radio Amateur Association VE Team Leader