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A great fist lost

Discussion in 'Silent Keys / Friends Remembered' started by KB0BYV, Mar 31, 2015.

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  1. KB0BYV

    KB0BYV Ham Member QRZ Page

    I've never seen a finer collection of keys as the ones left behind by Matt LePree, N7EG, in Tucson Arizona.
    He had a tremendous amount of friends turn out for his 90th birthday and we were all looking forward to his 91st.

    Matt's Station.jpg

    May 1924 - March 2015
     
  2. KL7AJ

    KL7AJ Ham Member QRZ Page

    :(
    We're disappearing fast
     
  3. AE7XG

    AE7XG Guest

    I have only known Matt for A little time, and I know he was cut from different cloth than others. A good Gentelman, kind. What I mean is he will be missed by A lot of people.

    AE7XG
    Dave
     
  4. KE8AMR

    KE8AMR Ham Member QRZ Page

    It inspires me to see people like Matt who persevere and thrive throughout a long life. I, one day, hope to be 90 hammering on the key as well.
     
  5. K2HAT

    K2HAT Premium Subscriber Volunteer Moderator Volunteer DX Helper QRZ Page

    My Condolences.



    Matthew J. Lepree, N7EG

    SK March 28, 2015
    We Awoke Yesterday Morning . . .
    to the sad news that our friend and fellow amateur radio operator, mainstay and elder, passed from our world on March 28, 2015. Matt Lepree, N7EG, the ham with the Swan radios and a lightning fast key.

    In World War II, Matt was a CW Operator in the Signal Corps and later he served on his local Homeland Security Communications Council in Tucson. He was there for his sick friends in hospitals and at their homes when they were in need. He would go above and beyond for them and tell us about what was happening as it unfolded. His world was rich because his heart was big.

    There are stories of Matt serving duty in the bitter lonely rainy cold of the Aluetian Islands, the rainiest in the entire United States. As he described, most guys would go absolutely stir crazy with those conditions. But not Matt, he was steadfast, he served as a valued member of his group and came back to tell the stories.

    His wife Fran says that his hair was prematurely white and if we had known him in earlier times, it was dark, mostly salt and pepper. She tells us that he loved his early morning 7155 group, that he never really enjoyed the groups he had found before and stuck mainly with his loved CW and the Bug he cherished. But once he found us, he was hooked.

    Echo Golf
    Matt loved his ham radio. In our morning group, when he wanted to make a point, at the end of the sentence he would always say the thing he wanted to emphasize twice. He would say things like, "Oh man, I know what that's like, I really do. Oh, yes, I really do."

    And now Matt is now a Silent Key. Our hearts, our sympathy and our passionate wishes go to his wife Fran and his family.

    You could hear Matt in the early morning hours when he was all alone on the frequency. The band had not quite shortened up and it was just before his signal would come up to the nines and tens we all were used to - and so it sounded like he was the only one in the universe, as if he were out there floating on a raft with an oil lantern held up in his hand. While you adjusted your filters and your preamps, you could hear him calling, "Looking for the 7155 Group - anyone for the 7155 Group" before any of us arrived.

    Matt welcomed us, made us happy, and he had his one-liner quips which brings to mind, Matt, nothing, absolutely nothing was above your "Pay Grade." You were simply the best any group could ever have hoped for. And we will miss you. We will miss you so very much, our 7155 friend.

    Fly with the angels and bring your Q5 signal to the ones you'll indeed find along your new way of light. Put in a good word for us when you have the chance on your first QSO over the Infinite Meter band - you know the one - it's where everyone has a Swan, the fastest CW bugs in town and all the antennas a ham could ever ask for. And, as you well know, there are no height limits there Matt.

    No, there surely aren't. No height limits there.

    "This is N7EG I'll be breaking for breakfast and I'll be back, if anybody needs me.
    Back to you Sid." "73"

    http://www.group7155.com/
     
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