[SFDXA] Silent Key – in Memoriam – W3AZD, Donald B. Search,By KE3Q, Rich Boyd

[Bill]

Reprinted With Permission from Bernie W3UR from today's The Daily DX


____W3AZD, Don Search (right standing), receiving his perfect attendance 
award at a recent NCDXA meeting, as N4MM, John Kanode (sitting) looks 
on. (Photo courtesy of K3ZO, Fred Laun)Emil me if the picture does not 
make it through...I'll send it separately. - Bill 
W2CQ__________________________________________________________

*Silent Key – in Memoriam – W3AZD, Donald B. Search**
****
**By KE3Q, Rich Boyd*
______________________________________________________________________
Many, many emails have been coming in, commenting on the passing of good 
ole Don, Donald B. Search, W3AZD, of Davie, Broward County, Florida, a 
friend to so many of us, a DXCC card checker, and longtime ARRL DXCC 
staffer, signer of our DXCC certificates for many years.  His name and 
signature grace the walls of, no doubt, thousands of hamshacks.
Don is survived by his faithful longtime partner of more than 55 years, 
Hope Smith, WB3ANE, who continues to reside in Florida.  As I recall 
hearing it (subject to correction, refinement, clarification), Hope and 
Don met at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, a 
close-in northern suburb of Washington, D.C.  They were among the 
original members of the NCDXA, National Capitol DX Association and, even 
after moving to Florida quite a few years ago now, they continued to 
drive or fly to the D.C. area for the bi-monthly NCDXA meetings, never 
missing a one until April, 2018, with age and challenging health 
issues.  Amazing.  Don was “ham’s ham,” and a true blue DXer, and Hope 
and Don were a notable example of two people loving and depending on 
each other.  They were hardly ever apart.
I was able to say hello to them in person at the annual W3LPL June open 
house.  The last time I saw Don I teased him about still wearing, always 
wearing, that beat-up orange callsign hat, “festooned” with pins and 
badges.  W3UR reminds me Don wore a relatively matching orange T-shirt, 
survivor of thousands of washings.  When I mentioned his hat, Don had 
his signature wry smile and said “It’s not my only one.”  My observation 
is that ham radio and Hope were the centerpieces of Don’s life.
According to Don’s nephew, Fred Reed, Don passed in hospice care between 
2 and 3 AM March 26.  He was in the Wilton Manors Rehab Center.  His 
health issues apparently accelerated when he fell in a restaurant, 
hitting his head on a table, December 17, 2019.
Before taking the job at ARRL, Don worked as an electronic technician 
for Burrows Communications in Maryland.  He administered the DXCC award 
for 15 years.

Don enjoyed reading about astronomy.  He was a member of various radio 
clubs including the Potomac Valley Radio Club, the aforementioned NCDXA, 
the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association, and the South Florida DX 
Association.  He went to many hamfests, often spending some time 
checking DXCC card submissions.
Funeral/memorial arrangements are pending.  KJ4VCT, Melanie Fernandez, 
President of the Gold Coast [Florida] Amateur Radio Association, 
suggests prayers for Hope, who will certainly miss Don even more than 
any of the rest of us will.  Melanie suggests dropping Hope a card or 
letter, through Melanie at the following mailing address, who will see 
they get to her (as Hope’s plans are uncertain at this point):
Hope Smith
c/o Melanie Fernandez
4860 NW 3 ST, Apt D
Delray Beach, FL  33445
K9BO, Bill Oberdorfer, living in Weeki Wachee, Florida, notes the fine 
job Don did at DXCC in Newington.  Bill recalls showing up unannounced 
at W1AW one day in 1980 with 275 cards to check, a first-time 
submission.  He and Don sat together going through the cards one by one 
and Don, never complaining, “couldn’t have been nicer.”  Bill adds, “The 
worst thing about having been licensed since 1958 is so many old friends 
and acquaintances are now passing on with more and more frequency.”
W2CQ, Bill, says Don “was always available, on the repeater, for help, 
for meetings and for anyone who asked for help with something.  For a 
tower party, Don was there, most of the time with Hope.  Years ago, in 
the eighties and nineties, Don would be there for us to pick someone up 
at the airport for the Miami Hamfest, to run an errand or pick up some 
materials.  If we needed someone at the table, Don was the one who 
always volunteered.  He was there for setting up the [club’s] booth and 
then he was there when we needed someone to man it.  He checked cards 
for hours.  He held the club banner for safekeeping, ready to bring it 
anywhere, to hamfests, flea markets and field day.  We used his DXCC 
cards for the display at our booth, always, because he had the largest 
collection.  Don was always one of the last ones standing at the Dayton 
DX dinner, the ‘sit down roll call’ of highest total number of countries 
confirmed.  He knew everyone and everyone knew Don.”
K3ZO, Fred Laun, President of NCDXA, notes Don’s 60-plus years as an 
amateur radio licensee and his contesting and DXing contributions.  Fred 
reminds us that for some years Don was an operator at one of the biggest 
multi-multi contest stations of the era, W3MSK/W3AU (Ed Bissell), a 
station whose antennas were clearly visible above the trees from George 
Washington’s historic Mount Vernon, just across the Potomac 
River.  “Beat ‘MSK” was an iconic “saying,” due to the station’s contest 
dominance.  W3AU, too, retired to Florida, as so many do.

In Florida in retirement, Don was the QSL bureau sorter for the A suffix 
for the US third call area and L and V suffixes for the two-letter 
prefix fourth call area.  At Dayton, Don checked cards for DXCC in the 
ARRL booth.  In Florida he participated in hurricane nets.

Copyright (c) 2020 by Bernie McClenny
______________________________________________________________________

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