WB0PVW

[WW0Y]

A sad and long overdue final 73 to my friend Ed Sayre, WB0PVW. #I never met Ed in person but he was my 3rd contact when I got my Novice ticket in 1987 and became the best on-air friend I've ever made. #I was 16 and Ed was 77 years young, as he would say. He called me the young whippersnapper. #My interest at the time was in broadcasting. #He spent hours telling me stories of early bc stations in KC. #My first CW contact was with him. #When I left Kansas City I was unable to talk to him on the air, but we kept in touch at Christmas and I always enjoyed his letters that could just as easily have been written to a grandson. #His final letter to me contained alot of news about health trouble. #A social security link posted by another user allowed me to verify that Ed passed away in December of 97. #I wish so much that I had gone and visited him in person at some point. #

Ed, your kindness and the hours we spent together on 10 meters I will always cherish. #I miss your gentle voice and encouraging words. #I'll always remember "Pure Virginia Whiskey".

73 my friend.

[WF7I]

WW0Y,

Sorry to hear about your friend.

I posted about a friend of mine who was significant to me in my younger years as well, John Wilson, WG7K. He passed away in the early 90s, and now someone has just taken his callsign as a vanity. It kind of made me sad, so I made a post to see if I could find anyone else on here who remembered him.

Looks like you and I are about the same age. And several of the hams I met when I got into the hobby in 85 are still good friends.

I guess I am lucky in that my elmer is still alive, although getting on in years. Frankly, I try to spend time with him as much as I can in between duty to work and the wife, because I want to learn from him as much as possible and pass it along to future hams.

I'm afraid that with declining membership of younger hams, we'll see more and more of our friends pass away as we get older in this hobby. I sure hope there will still be people to talk to when I am retired!

73, Bert