[SCHam] Wayne Williams, K4MOB, SK

[Greg Williams]

Wayne Williams was the "Driving Force" behind the SERA repeater journal.  He
turned a 44-page CVRA periodical into the guide for many HAMs in the
Southeastern United States for repeaters and how to use them.

On a personal note, I wrote an article for the SERA journal in 1999.  Wayne
was a tremendous help to me in what to tell people.  He was eager to get my
article, and even more eager to make it tell a story rather than to make it
simply fill in empty space.  I thank him for letting me "tell a story" to
the readers.

Here is the new editor of SERA, Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, eulogizing Wayne on the
SERA web site at www.sera.org.
by: Gary Pearce, KN4AQ

Wayne Crosby Williams, Sr., K4MOB, editor of the SouthEastern Repeater
Association magazine "The SERA Repeater Journal", died at home early Tuesday
morning, February 12, 2002, of complications from cancer.  He was 65 years
old.  Wayne is survived by his wife Gerry, KB4SER, and two sons, Wayne Jr.
and Chris.  A third son, Greg, died in 2000.

Wayne's passion in Amateur Radio was FM and repeaters.  He became active in
SERA's predecessor, the Carolinas-Virginia Repeater Association (CVRA), in
the early 70's, when two meter FM was just beginning its booming popularity.
In 1977 he became the editor for the group's magazine, the Repeater Journal.
The Journal was already a respectable 44 page booklet, with regional
advertising from local dealers and hamfests, but over the next 23 years,
Wayne built it into a real quarterly magazine, featuring full-color covers
and both national and regional advertising.  The heart of the Journal was
the Repeater Index, a list of all repeaters in the eight SERA states, but
the magazine also included news and feature articles, and regular columns
from correspondents in each state.

The story of the growth of FM and repeaters in Amateur Radio is a remarkable
one.  Hams "discovered" the mode in the late 1960's.  In the 70's band plans
were developed and frequency coordinating bodies were formed that lead to
the kind of organized effort that repeaters demanded to prevent interference
and chaos.  Wayne Williams chronicled that development from its earliest
days to the present, and helped SERA grow into one of the nations largest,
most effective coordination bodies.

In parallel with his SERA activity, Wayne also established Williams Radio.
He started the business by amassing a huge inventory of crystals.  In that
pre-synthesizer era, two meter FM radios required a pair of crystals for
each frequency used.  Williams was one of the few "instant" sources of
crystals for almost every frequency, and for almost every radio.  Other
crystal sources made hams wait days or weeks before they got the crystals
needed to operate a new radio.  Soon, the business added accessories and
several lines of radios.  It was a family affair, with Wayne's wife, brother
and sons pitching in at hamfests across the region.  Wayne "retired" from
Williams Radio in 1997.

In 1999, Wayne was diagnosed with cancer.  In late 2000, he described the
experience in an editorial titled "Superman Got Shot Down," in which he
warned readers not to ignore symptoms the way he did.  By that time, several
surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments had eradicated the cancer.
But the experience left Wayne feeling mortal, and he realized that he was
putting SERA and the Repeater Journal, his pride and joy, at risk.  The
Repeater Journal had many contributors, but the job of editing and
publishing fell to Wayne alone.

Who could keep the Journal going, matching Wayne's quality and maybe even
adding a touch or two?  Wayne watched the next lower tier of ham radio
journalism, club newsletters.  In early 2000, he was impressed by an editor
who was turning out a newsletter with good graphics and content.  The
newsletter was the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society "Exciter", and I was that
editor.  I was familiar with graphics professionally, and I had been writing
articles for the Exciter, and a column for the Repeater Journal, for several
years.  I had hoped to edit the Exciter for a long time, but when Wayne
explained the situation, I agreed to step up to the Journal.

During 2001, Wayne began teaching me the details of the Repeater Journal.  I
produced a few pages for the August issue, and about a quarter of the
November issue.  During that time, Wayne received more bad news.  The cancer
had returned.  The doctor couldn't operate again - Wayne hadn't fully healed
from the first round of surgery.  Chemotherapy kept the cancer at bay, but
there was an unspoken feeling that we may now be racing the clock.

The plan called for me to assume the title of editor and produce the
February, 2002, book myself, though Wayne prepared most of the advertising.
Wayne planned to keep handling advertising for the next year or two.  It
took a lot more work to produce the magazine than I expected, but by late
January it was finished, and headed to the printer.  About that time, Wayne
began feeling worse, and went to see his doctor.  He got the news everyone
was dreading.  The cancer had spread, and was inoperable.  The doctor
predicted that Wayne had days, maybe weeks... but not a month... to live.

The issue I produced was designed to be a tribute to Wayne's 23 years as
Editor and prime motivator in SERA.  The cover featured a "passing the
torch" picture of the two of us examining film negatives (it was the first
and only time Wayne appeared on a cover).  That picture was surrounded by
small reproductions of some of the many issues Wayne created over the years,
along with a plaque honoring his service that SERA had presented to him a
few weeks earlier.  Inside were testimonials written by SERA officers
spanning the organizations 30 years.   As the magazine was completed, I
realized that it could become a memorial more than a tribute, although
articles inside said that Wayne was planning on continuing to work with SERA
in a more behind-the-scenes role.

When the first two "proof" copies came off the press, the printer rushed
them to Wayne's house personally to make sure Wayne had a chance to see them
before it was too late.  That effort was only a little premature.  Wayne
lived another two weeks.  He died as the magazine was in the mail to several
thousand SERA members.

In his last weeks, Wayne maintained a remarkably positive attitude.  He
accepted his fate, and, while family, friends and his SERA colleagues prayed
for a miracle, he said he had already received one.  He had the time to take
care of his affairs, spend time with his family and say goodbye to his many
friends.  The doctor stopped the chemotherapy that could now only slow the
disease slightly, and concentrated on pain relief.  Though Wayne grew weaker
each day, he was able to sit up and visit with company, take phone calls,
and continue to advise me on the Journal, up to the end.

We will miss him.