David is on the greatest DXpedition of them all. David has activated Heaven. My prayers are going out for Rebecca and the rest of his family.
Sincere condolences to David's family - we had the pleasure of having him in Fiji - Rotuma in 2011. Such a great loss to the amateur radio hobby.
DXpedition Leader, Elite Contester, Ham Radio Mentor David Collingham, K3LP, SK 01/07/2018 Well-known DXpedition leader and contester David Collingham, K3LP, of Mt Airy, Maryland, died on January 6 after falling through the ice on a pond near his home the previous evening while trying to rescue his stranded dog. He was 59. Collingham was co-leader, with Paul Ewing, N6PSE, of the 2016 VP8STI/VP8SGI DXpedition to South Sandwich and South Georgia islands, and he was president of the Intrepid-DX Group. Licensed at age 15 as WN6KTF in his home state of California, Collingham went on to take part in more than 70 DXpeditions and served as leader or co-leader of 14 major DXpeditions. Collingham had several Top 5 finishes in international competitions to his credit. He also had written articles for QST, CQ, and other publications. Collingham was a 2014 inductee to the CQ DX Hall of Fame, credited with focusing on using Amateur Radio as an educational tool at home and abroad. With the support of Collingham’s long-distance coaching, teacher Bev Matheson, KJ6RSX, a Fontana, California, elementary school teacher, was encouraged to start a ham radio club for 4th and 5th graders at Dorothy Grant Elementary School. A Fontana High School graduate, Collingham provided a complete station for the school. He also promoted and taught Amateur Radio to young people in Iraq, Ethiopia, and Rotuma. Professionally, Collingham was president and CEO of International Quality Registrars Corporatio, a global ISO 9001 certification firm. He was a graduate of University of Maryland University College (MS in operations management), National Louis University (MS in applied behavioral sciences), and DeVry Institute of Technology (AA in electronics technology). NCJ Editor Scott Wright, K0MD, recalled hearing Collingham speak at a Dayton DX Dinner. “He challenged those in attendance to always think of others, especially DXers who are generally less fortunate,” Wright recounted. Collingham noted that he’d left behind some of the ham radio gear he’d brought to a DXpedition or operation to another country as a donation to help keep ham radio going there. Wright said Collingham also challenged those in attendance to help school clubs and start one, and to realize that ham radio would die, were a new generation not mentored and fostered. Collingham was a member of ARRL, Southwest Ohio DX Association, Potomac Valley Radio Club, and the National Capital DX Association. “David lived his life bold, courageous, and heroically, and he died trying to save his beloved dog,” Ewing wrote in announcing Collingham’s death. “He will always be a hero in our hearts.” Photo Gallery http://www.arrl.org/news/dxpedition-leader-elite-contester-ham-radio-mentor-david-collingham-k3lp-sk
What a shame for all. Dave was a wonderfull fellow. We got to know each other as a novice ops.many yrs ago. He was a master at all in amature radio.
I met Dave at the 2016 Boxboro Hamfest and Convention. On Friday he did an awesome job with the presentation about the South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands DXpedition. On Saturday I was out in the Flea Market for the Hamfest trying to sell some stuff, and Dave was wandering around. I offered for him to sit and join me and gave him a bottle of water. I was glad to be able to talk with him for about 10 minutes and found out that I was 3 days older than him. I did not get a chance to see him this past year, and am so very sad to hear he is gone, way too soon. A Frederick County man died Friday after attempting to rescue his family’s dog, which had wandered onto a frozen pond outside his home near Libertytown. David Collingham, 59, was pronounced dead at Frederick Memorial Hospital after spending more than an hour submerged in water under the ice, according to Tom Coe, deputy chief with the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services. Units were dispatched to the scene at 7:01 p.m. and did not locate Collingham in the water until 8:01 p.m. “His actual initial location not easily determined,” Coe said. “Crews were using the search light from the Maryland State Police helicopter and searching below the surface of the ice to see where he was.” After locating his body, responders were able to break the ice and pull Collingham from the water. He was transported by ambulance to Frederick Memorial Hospital and arrived at 8:55 p.m. Workers declared him dead after taking advanced lifesaving measures both on scene and at the hospital. A crew remained on the property until around 9:30 p.m., Coe said. Collingham had gone out that evening to search for the family’s golden retriever, Cooper, who went missing on a night when wind chills were expected to reach from 10 to 15 degrees below zero. When he found the dog on a partially frozen pond on an adjoining property, he called his family and asked for help, said Nick Collingham, 38, one of David’s oldest sons. His wife, Rebecca, went out to the pond with their two youngest children — a son, 14, and a daughter, 11. When the family reached the area, they found that Collingham had fallen into the water. “His last words to them were that he wasn’t going to make it and he loved them,” Nick said. “It’s just tragic. It’s something nobody ever expected.” “I think maybe we are a little angry that he went out there because he knew better, but that’s the type of guy he was,” Nick continued. “He couldn’t just stand by and watch something bad happen, knowing how much he loved the dog and the family loved the dog.” Collingham had seven children, including the 14-year-old and 11-year-old, who lived with him and Rebecca on a country property between Libertytown and Mount Airy. He also had eight grandchildren, according to Nick. As the owner of International Quality Registrars Corporation — an accreditation company based in Frederick — Collingham was well-known in the community. But he was also a titan in the world of amateur radio, where he went by the call sign K3LP. In his more than 40 years as a ham radio operator, Collingham befriended hundreds of people around the world and led dozens of expeditions to promote amateur radio in hard-to-reach countries, said Paul Ewing, a friend from San Jose, California. “There are several hundred thousand amateur radio operators worldwide, and I would venture to say that most knew of David and knew of his activities,” Ewing said. “A ham radio friend in Thailand called me early yesterday morning and asked if I heard the news — that’s how far the word had spread. It’s a shock and just a deep loss, that this pillar, this giant, is gone.” Among his many excursions, Collingham recently took trips to Antarctica and Niger to promote the hobby and make “contact” with countries where ham radio is largely unknown, said Jim Nitzberg, another friend from Taneytown. Those DXpeditions — as the trips are called among amateur radio enthusiasts — were one of biggest points of pride in Collingham’s life, Nick said. The hobby took him around the globe, from Libya to Iraq to South Sudan, which he visited in 2011 shortly after the country was founded. With permission from the fledgling government, Collingham launched an expedition and stayed in South Sudan for 21 days, Ewing said. He also arranged for local schools around the capital of Juba to attend ham radio exhibitions and learn more about the activity. “In many of the countries, he would donate or leave behind equipment so that people could continue with it after he left,” Ewing said. “He really was just a pillar in the field and really enjoyed introducing young people to the hobby.” His efforts to promote ham radio also extended to his hometown of Fontana, California, Nitzberg said. Collingham donated equipment and established an amateur radio club at Dorothy Grant Elementary School in Fontana, where more than 180 students have taken FCC licensing exams. Collingham’s generosity was his defining characteristic for most of his friends, added Barry Thaysen, a longtime friend and employee at IQR. According to Ewing, the urge to give back started when Collingham was a college student struggling to pay his tuition. As he was leaving his school’s administration office, a complete stranger stopped and gave him the money he needed to make a payment, Ewing said. The event became a defining story that Collingham would repeat to friends. “It really impressed upon him the need to give back,” Ewing said. “And I really don’t know anybody who gave back more than David. When we went to Africa, he would come back literally with the clothes on his back. I mean, he would give away everything, including his clothes.” When he wasn’t working or traveling, Collingham was spending time at home with his family, Nitzberg added. His Facebook page was mostly devoted to pictures of his wife and his two youngest children — of his son at football practice or his daughter during piano recitals. “The weekends were for them,” Nitzberg said. “You can see his pictures — it’s all about his kids and his wife.” “He was a great father,” Nick added. “Very supportive, very loving. Amateur radio and his family — that’s the stuff he’s most proud of.” https://www.fredericknewspost.com/n...cle_2433b979-8f0b-5910-abba-9bfd8fe6fefd.html
I didn't know David personally, but the call rang a bell when I read it in the Frederick News post. I think the local paper really did a good job explaining what he did for DX and DXpeditions, giving their readers a little insight into one of his passions. I live in Frederick County Maryland and I heard this play out on the scanner before knowing anything about the victim. My mind was on the professionalism and organization of the rescue response, I'm sure the county fire department will try and figure out what more they could have done, but if it wasn't everything, it was sure close, time, location, and conditions were not on their side.
David was very nice to me on the air recently when I met him for the first time and he took a lot of time telling me things about what he was involved with and giving me tips and tricks for what I needed to know regarding Youth and such. Thank you very much bye bye k3lp
David called me out of the blue one day and said he would like to meet me. He met me and a few other hams from the local club here in lansing. He was very informative and polite and seemed really interested in everything we all spoke about. We became friends and would talk often on facebook. He was always very busy but that never stopped him from spending time with people and making a friend of each of us. I ask him one day how he was able to do so much work and still have the time to spend with family and friends. David said " Life is short - I work hard and invest in friendships - I guess im hoping someone will show up when i die."
Celebrating The Life of David Collingham A Time To Remember.... MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 2018 THE STABLES @ GREEN MEADOWS PETTING FARM 10102 FINGERBOARD ROAD URBANA, MD 10:30 A.M. – 4:30 P.M. This is an all day Celebration - very casual - nothing planned COME AS YOU GO – CASUAL ATTIRE BYOB & POTLUCK So many have asked Rebecca what they can do - here are a couple things we can do for her and her family: - Bring a story or memory to share - Please sign up to bring a dish whether it be an appetizer, main dish, side, dessert or drinks. Please Note - there will not be any way to heat up food so if you bring something that needs to be cooked or heated, please do so before. Also use disposable containers and utensils. Plenty of places to plug in crock pots. - We will need help to setup prior to the arrival of family and friends, so please if you are willing to help please sign up. THANK YOU.....IT TAKES A VILLAGE..... Date: 01/15/2018 (Mon.) Time: 10:30am - 4:30pm EST Location: 10102 FINGERBOARD ROAD, Urbana, MD Created by: LG Lori Gardner Already signed up? You can change your sign up.
