[SFDXA] Oldest, Longest-Licensed US Ham, Educator Charles Hellman, W2RP, SK

Bill bmarx at bellsouth.net
Mon Feb 6 11:16:31 EST 2017


    Oldest, Longest-Licensed US Ham, Educator Charles Hellman, W2RP, SK

02/03/2017

Charles “Charlie” Hellman, W2RP, of Hastings on Hudson, New York, died 
on January 25. He was 106 and may have not only been the oldest 
surviving radio amateur in the US but, at 92 years, also may have been 
the longest licensed. By 8 days, Hellman outlived Harry Wolf, W6NKT, of 
Morro Bay, California, who had been considered the oldest US ham when he 
died 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/harry-k-wolf-w6nkt-sk-at-107-may-have-been-world-s-oldest-active-radio-amateur> 
on January 17, just a couple of weeks shy of his 108th birthday.

In 2015, the Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA 
<http://www.qcwa.org/>) honored Hellman with a “90 Year Continuous 
Licensed Certificate Award” (No 1). At the time, the QCWA had thought 
Hellman was the oldest living radio amateur, but announcement of his 
QCWA honor served to flush out Wolf, who, while not licensed as long as 
Hellman, was 1 year older. No formal records are kept regarding the 
oldest or youngest US hams. Hellman joined QCWA in 1975 and was a member 
of QCWA Chapter 181 in New York’s Hudson Valley. He had been regularly 
active on the air until a few years before his death, when his backyard 
tower fell victim to Hurricane Sandy.

First licensed as W2AMK in 1925 when he was 15, Hellman, who had been an 
ARRL member, went on to become an educator. After working his way 
through the City College of New York, he taught physics on the secondary 
level. During World War II, Hellman was tapped by the Department of War 
to write a textbook for training radio operators, /Elements of Radio/. 
Two of Hellman's siblings also held ham tickets. His brother Robert, now 
deceased, was W2JAN. His brother Benjamin, 96, is W2VB.

QCWA came upon the information regarding Hellman’s age and Amateur Radio 
tenure when QCWA Webmaster Bob Roske, N0UF, was updating member files. 
Roske discovered that Hellman was still living in New York and appeared 
to be the oldest living QCWA member. /— Thanks to Pete Varounis, NL7XM, 
and Charles Tropp, N2SO/



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