K2MFY Ed Whitman (my dad) Silent Key, April 24, 2020

Kilowatt 2 Mike Fox Yankee. Those were the words that I grew up hearing. I always remember my father running down to the basement each evening to just get a few minutes of 'air' time before bed. He was so smart, could fix any electronic thing we somehow managed to break, and he loved his ham radio. He would talk to anyone who would listen, about how he built his first Heathkit rig in the 50's. It was a rite of passage for the boyfriends that my sisters and I would bring home that they listen to my dad's ham stories. And he taught us geography from all the countries he operated - and the few countries that he hoped to reach. I remember being the only 4th grader to know where Pitcairn Islands or Montserrat were and I had the best stamp collection from all the QSL cards he received. And boy did I want to be just like him! I remember when I told my dad that I wanted to get my ham radio license. He happily took out his old Jean Shepard cassette tapes and I used them to learn morse code. I got my novice license but unfortunately I never did operate much. My father never stopped though, he loved the excitement of it, escpecially the contests, field day and receiving the QSL cards. As much as my dad loved his ham radio, he loved his family so much more (well, as long as we didn't plan any major parties on a contest day). He was always there to help us and loved to plan family vacations and get togethers. He will always have a place in my heart. 88 old man, I'll miss you forever.

 

A note from my sister:
“I’m going on the air!” My dad would say and I’d watch him disappear into the basement. If it was a ham contest, he might be there all weekend. It was not until I was a little older, and started elementary school, that I realized ham was not just a wonderful escape and passion for my dad, but also a lunch meat. K2MFY, was my dads call letters, which family and friends chanted over and over after at his surprise 80th birthday in 2018. I remember growing up and hearing “Mike Fox Yankee! Mike Fox Yankee!” through the telephone line as I tried to speak to my friends. Whenever there was a chance of a storm, my dad would say, “gotta take down my antennae” and we’d watch from the backyard as he climbed onto the roof and scurried up to the top to lower his ham radio antennae. I never understood his love for Morse code and my mind would wander as he showed me on the map all the places in the world that he worked and his itemized qsl cards. He used to sing my name in dits and dars and made it into a song. His love for his ham radio never surpassed his love for his family. My dad was so funny, he was there for all of us, 100% of the time, and he could fix anything, he is the smartest man I know, and the best father I have ever known. Kilowatt 2 Mike Fox Yankee, will forever live on in my heart.
Eileen Bie

 

HI MARCIA AND EILEEN BIE,

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR SHARING THESE WONDERFUL
STORIES OF YOUR DAD WHO YOU BOTH LOVED SO DEARLY.

YOUR DAD WAS TRULY A "TFO" (TOP FLIGHT OPERATOR).



http://www.arrl.org/files/file/DXCC/DXCCYearbook/DXCC YEARBOOK 2018.pdf

YOUR DAD'S CALL SIGN CAN BE FOUND ON PAGE 2
UNDER THE
361 LISTING

RESPECTFULLY,

 

Edward A. Whitman, K2MFY SK



QCWA Number: 27489

Edward Allan Whitman (5-18-38) sadly passed on April 24, 2020.
Married 58 years to his loving wife, Linda. Proud father of Eileen, Debra and Marcia.
Cherished grand-father of Ali, Jessica, Justin, Avery, Tess.

He will be missed by all who knew him.

Published in Newsday on May 1, 2020

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/newsday/obituary.aspx?n=edward-allan-whitman&pid=196122244

 

HI --ED MY RESPECT fully --K2MFY---vy73 DJOAJ ekrem

 

I have to give my humble respect here because I recognize Ed Whitman as an extra class man as well as an extra class ham. When I was the Editor in tHe Grumman Amateur Radio Club newsletter. EEd was one of the few c,ub members who volunteered to write articles in the newsletter. Unlike former editors I did not want to fill the space with the types of articles that were copied from QST or other ham publications. I wanted everything in the newsletters to be original. I admit that members were getting tired of reading about stuff that I wrote about myself and I wanted other members to write about themselves, which can be difficult for a modest person to do. I tried to be funny, hoping that readers of my biography would remain interested..often by making a fool of myself. Some of the readers did not get my jokes as well as members of QRZ did when I told the same jokes here. but that was not Ed's style. Many people take ham radio very seriously. It means different things to different people. When I visited hams in Japan and hams in Australia as well as the dedicated hams who go on expeditions where they operate with hams of many nations I began to realize that ham radio still meant more to those hams than it did to Americans who passed the licensing tests but rarely or never operated. Few hams were building their own equipment everywhere or even building Heathkits. In the depression years many hams when many were unemployed they had to do something that was not just an expensive hobby. They had to learn how to build their own raddios and the knowledge and tools that they needed were using. As this went on after WW2 hams began fixing TV sets, installing antennas, etc. because they could even deal with 30 tube sets because they could wipe out Channel 2 with a three-tube transmitter. Anyway hams became wizards, especially poor hams who call professionals to service the TV sets. The old time hams were not often wealthy but the newer hams were able to afford the best equipment. They looked at the hobby as hands on experience. Anyway, as many of us got older we realized that anyone could work the entire world even when there weren't any sunspots if they took the time to operate long enough and purchased the best equipment and antennas. Ed was from the old school of hams but bridged the gap into the new school of real engineers. He aided in the design of the antenna for the LEM when he was employed by Grumman. There were many engineers working to send men to the Moon as promised by JFK. Most of the design work was done by foreign engineers I am sad to say. I was not working for Grumman at that time. I was working for Loral but had visited Grumman as a field service engineer. I had bet that Grumman would not succeed with the Moon project, especially in the time that it was supposed to be completed...but they did. Ed explained how they were well organized to each do their part of the job. This was also his experience in getting DXCC by spending his time as efficiently working into the night by until his XYL had to call him,. Now my XYL is here wanting me to get to bed but I continue. I first learned about the passing of Ed from my XYL who was told about Ed by the exSecretary of the exGARC Karen W2ABK. I say ex because there is no longer a GARC because most of the key members are sk. This post is taking too long. I'll not take any of your time to continue but I want all to know that I have only the best things to remember about Ed and there are very few hams that i would respect in his capacity as a ham, an engineer and a beloved family man. I enjoyed reading about what his children wrote here. One of my sons once passed a novice test but refused to operate a CW rig that I built for him. There are too few real hams now. The best of them are dying or dead. I wrote a poem about what the hobby would become in the year 2020 when I thought that no hams would be using CW. I was wrong. VY 73 Bob w2ilp (I Licensed People) but I could not teach my kids how to be hams. Not after they learned how to use computers to play sadokies and chess.

 

Condolences to you and your family.

 

R.I.P. dear Ed.
I wish to remember you like this:
https://www.morsekey.net/qsl/K2MFY-02051999-15-CW.html