Flavius Jankauskas W3JAK/K3JA Silent Key

Good morning. My name is Karen and I am the daughter of Flavius Jankauskas.
It is with much sadness I am posting this message today about my father who passed away peacefully at home after a lingering illness on Thursday, Nov 6th, 2014. He was 88 years young. He was a HAM radio operator for most of his life and served as a radio officer in the Merchant Marines starting in April 1944 during WWII. He also had a passion for Short Wave radio and was a member of SWAM (Short Wave Amateur Monitors) during WWII.
He will be missed immensely.

 

My Sincere Condolences.

I found his Obituary online, and forwarded that to the ARRL.




Flavius Jankauskas, 88, of Chalfont PA, passed away peacefully Thursday, November 6th, 2014 at his residence with his companion Elfriede at his side.
Son of Zigmund & Vincenta Jankauskas, Flavius was born on August 21, 1926 and raised in Philadelphia, Pa.
Short Wave Radio operation was Flavius's primary interest, communicating with countless people around the globe throughout his life.

In 1940, at the young age of 16, he earned his HAM radio license in which the FCC originally assigned the "radio call letters" W3JAK.
More recently his "radio call letters" were changed to K3JA which remained as his radio id to the present.

In 1942, he also earned his Professional Commercial license, which enabled him to work at the Philadelphia radio stations WHAT and WIBG for a brief period.
During the years 1942-43, in the midst of World War II, Flavius became a member of an organization called the Short Wave Amateur Monitors Club (SWAM), their noble mission to relay messages from many American POWs to their loved ones back home in the USA. Later on, his personal story was written about in a book titled "World War II Radio Heroes - Letters of Compassion" authored by Lisa Spahr.

In 1944, Flavius joined the Merchant Marines as a radio officer. He remained active with the Merchant Marines until 1982.

Flavius also had a passion for opera and was involved with several opera companies throughout his life including Delaware Valley Opera Company.
He performed in Die Zauberflöte in 1984 as Sarastro, and La Traviata in 1985 as Dr. Grenvil.
A proud patriot and Merchant Marine veteran, Flavius is survived by his long time friend and companion Elfriede, his children Audric and Karen, three grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Relatives and friends are invited to a gathering celebrating Flavius’s life 2-4:00 pm Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at the Shelly Funeral Home, 1460 Easton Road, Warrington.

 

Thank you.

 

Flav K3JA, W3JAK, KG1JA, LY2JA and DJ1JA was one of the best bug (semi-automatic) key operators in the world. What a fist. He was always a delight to speak to.



We were both Merchant Marine radio officers and we enjoyed speaking to each other.

During World War II Flavius Jankauskas was one of many short wave listeners who monitored German broadcasts and passed information to the families of POWs. The book World War II Radio Heroes: Letters of Compassion by Lisa L Spahr documents the activities of these listeners. The photo of Flavius is on the cover of the book.

Read about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_Radio_Heroes:_Letters_of_Compassion

A great man who was greatly loved by all who knew him!

73
David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA

 

Indeed sad news...

My Sincere Condolences.

I met Flav personally in Friedrichshafen in 1981 or 1982. Back in those years I was a very green ham with only a year or two on the air. As a teenager (15 or 16), the meeting with Flav left a strong impression. We also worked CW several times and exchanged snail mail letters before emails were invented.

Thanks to a person like Flavius, I was embraced in the international friendship of Ham Radio, and have always tried to give young guys the same approach and with open mind stimulate them to keep on to this wonderful hobby.

R.I.P. and the memory of your superb CW fist will always be in my mind and forever travel out in the eternal universe of radio waves...

73 de Mats RM2D, Moscow, Russia (SM6LRR, Gothenburg Sweden in 1981)