Erwin Lange W3MWV - silent key

Erwin Lange of Sharon, PA, passed away on February 5, 2013. First licensed in 1934, he was a ham operator for more than 70 years, and was the senior ham operator living in the Shenango Valley.

 

My Condolences.

February 6, 2013 Erwin Lange

Amateur radio operator, businessman was Navy vet

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---- — Erwin Lange of Sharon passed away at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013, in the hospital of Sharon Regional Health System after a very brief illness. He was 99.

Mr. Lange was born July 7, 1913, in Swissvale, Pa., a son of Reinhard Frederick Lange and Elisabeth “Elsie” Dobler Lange.

He moved to the area in the late 1920s and was a 1932 graduate of Hickory High School, where he was class valedictorian.

Mr. Lange then served with the Civilian Conservation Corps in central Pennsylvania and joined the Navy Reserves in February 1935. He was on active duty with the Navy prior to and during World War II, 1940-45, in the Caribbean, North Atlantic and Mediterranean. He achieved a rank of chief warrant officer W4 and continued to serve with the Navy Reserves until age 60.

Erwin was a master wood patternmaker and co-owned the former Shenango Pattern Works, Sharon, until his retirement in 1978.

He was an amateur radio operator with a call sign of W3MWV for more than 70 years, having received his first amateur radio license in 1934. He was the senior amateur radio operator living in the Shenango Valley and a member of the Navy Military Auxiliary Radio System, the American Radio Relay League and the Quarter Century Wireless Association. He also belonged to American Legion Post 299 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1338, both Sharon.

Mr. Lange was the last surviving member of the singing quartet, the Old Hickory Songsters, from high school days, who performed locally for many years in their retirement.

He was an avid daily walker in Buhl Park, typically arriving between 6 and 6:30 a.m. He also walked in his 90s in the Shenango Valley Mall and Hickory Plaza, both Hermitage.

His wife of 42 years, the former Florence Brunner, whom he married Dec. 31, 1942, passed away Nov. 2, 1985.

Surviving are: a daughter, Virginia Lange, Sharon; a niece, Theda Heinzkill and her husband Richard Heinzkill, Eugene, Ore.; a nephew, Frank Erwin Lange, Honolulu, Hawaii; a niece, Caroline Lewin, Columbus, Ohio; several great-nephews and a great-niece; a brother-in-law, Francis Brunner, Pittsburgh; and 13 nieces and nephews in the Pittsburgh area.

Besides his wife, Erwin was preceded in death by his parents; five children; a brother, Frederick Reinhard Lange; and a sister, Amanda Caroline Lange Throckmorton.


LANGE

Erwin, 99, Sharon.

Calling hours: 10 a.m. to time of service Saturday (2-9-13) in J. BRADLEY McGONIGLE FUNERAL HOME and CREMATORY Inc., 1090 E. State St., Sharon. Friends may e-mail condolences by visiting www.McGonigleFuneralHomeandCrematory.com

Service: Funeral service at 11 a.m. Saturday in the funeral home chapel with the Rev. John M. Trojak, pastor of First Baptist Church, Sharon, officiating.

Interment: Oakwood Cemetery, Hermitage.

http://sharonherald.com/obituaries/x2056607343/Erwin-Lange



W3MWV SK

73 K2HAT Lee

 

Thanks. I never met him in person, but talked to him on air for the first time about a week or so before he died. He would hit our local repeater every morning at 8:50 AM and run a little weather report net with a few friends of his. Very nice guy with a real distinct radio voice. The airwaves will definitely miss him.

73,

Loren KB3YLQ