[SFDXA] Fw: ARLX007 Former FCC Official A. Prose Walker, W4BW, SK

[Bill Marx]

 SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX007
> ARLX007 Former FCC Official A. Prose Walker, W4BW, SK
> 
> ZCZC AX07
> QST de W1AW  
> Special Bulletin 7  ARLX007
> From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington CT  September 27, 2002
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB SPCL ARL ARLX007
> ARLX007 Former FCC Official A. Prose Walker, W4BW, SK
> 
> Former FCC official A. Prose Walker, W4BW, the man some consider the
> godfather of the so-called ''WARC bands''--30, 17 and 12 meters--died
> August 8 following a brief illness. He was 92. Word of his death
> reached ARRL Headquarters this month.
> 
> Walker, who headed the FCC Amateur and Citizens Division from 1971
> until 1975, made the initial proposal for three new amateur
> allocations at 10, 18 and 24 MHz during an International Amateur
> Radio Club (4U1ITU) meeting in Geneva in 1972. Later, he organized
> and chaired the US preparatory committee for the Amateur
> Service--the Advisory Committee of Amateur Radio--which took the
> initial steps to turn the idea into reality at the 1979 World
> Administrative Radio Conference. The committee also included former
> ARRL General Manager Richard L. Baldwin, W1RU, who said this week
> that he was greatly saddened to learn of Walker's passing.
> 
> ''One of my fondest memories of WARC 79 was the pleasure and the
> challenge of working with Prose in preparing for that conference,''
> Baldwin said. ''He was a stalwart supporter of the Amateur Service,
> and few amateurs realize how very much they owe to him.''
> 
> Walker's most recent recognition came at Dayton Hamvention 2000,
> when he was recognized with a special achievement award, an honor
> his daughter, Helen Herman, said he coveted among many other more
> prestigious awards. The award recognized his work in obtaining the
> new amateur allocations more than two decades earlier.
> 
> An ARRL Life Member and a licensee since the 1920s, Walker was an
> enthusiastic amateur who remained quite active on the air until
> shortly before his death. Only a few months before he died, he
> bought a state-of-the-art transceiver and reveled in becoming
> acquainted with its many features. Walker's favorite operating mode
> was CW, and he was a frequent visitor on the bands he'd help create.
> 
> A native of Ohio, Walker's career took a number of turns, including
> a stint as a high school teacher, but his primary contributions were
> in the fields of communications and engineering. He did two tours
> with the FCC and also worked for the National Association of
> Broadcasters and Collins Radio Company.
> 
> During his career, Walker earned a global reputation for
> participation and leadership within the International
> Telecommunication Union (ITU). He was the leading member of the US
> delegation at more than 20 international conferences.
> 
> ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, knew Walker and
> occasionally encountered him on the air. ''The careers of some radio
> amateurs are so long and so rich that they bridge generations,''
> Sumner said. ''Prose was among these.''
> 
> Walker retired to Florida, but after his wife Ellanie died in 1999,
> he moved to Rochester, New York, to be near his daughter, Helen. A
> memorial service will be held later this year.
> NNNN
> /EX
> 
>