Mary Ann Crider, WA3HUP, well know QSL Manager and former Manager of the W3 QSL Bureau, passed away on 3/12/2016. Mary Ann was the recipient of the ARRL President's Award in 2005 for her service as the manager of the "W3" incoming QSL bureau - righting a ship that had taken on a lot of water.... Mary Ann's President's Award citation read as follows: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For the past ten and one half years Mary Ann Crider, WA3HUP has provided Radio Amateurs whose call sign has a three in it with exemplary service as Manager for the ARRL Third Call Area Incoming QSL Bureau. Her tenure has been notable for its length of service and for the collegial atmosphere she has nurtured among her loyal band of sorters. Ms. Crider came to the position with stellar qualifications. Anyone who knows her has remarked over and over again how she is a "natural" for the job. Her encyclopedic knowledge of DXCC entities and call sign prefixes was built by her work in the trenches, as illustrated by her DXCC confirmed total of 360 entities including deletions and the certificate on the wall awarded by CQ Magazine for being the first Novice, as WN3HUP, to qualify for that magazine's CQ DX award. Prior to accepting the Bureau Manager position Ms. Crider had served a total of 11 years as a sorter for the bureau. At times she was responsible all by herself for five letters of the alphabet. Such was her reputation and the quality of her work that when ARRL HQ needed extra help her services were requested and she willingly accepted. In that connection she served for three years as a sorter for incoming packages of QSLs arriving from overseas at ARRL HQ, and for almost three years she also sorted and mailed the majority of QSLs for the ARRL Outgoing QSL Bureau. In managing the bureau she is firm but fair. Where problems arise she is quick to correct them but in a way that maintains the devotion and friendship of her sorters. The annual luncheon which she hosts for her sorters has the feel of a family reunion. Ms. Crider's accomplishments have not by any means been limited to her bureau work. She takes very seriously the Radio Amateur's creed to promote international friendship. In this regard she served as long-time QSL Manager for one of Amateur Radio's highest profile practitioners of all time, Alhussein Ibn Talal, JY1 popularly known as King Hussein of Jordan, right up until his untimely death. Such was His Majesty's appreciation for her work that on more than one occasion he invited her to visit him in Jordan, all expenses paid. But her work as QSL manager has not been limited to service for the high and mighty. She has performed the same function for, among others, Radio Amateurs in Mexico and Turkey. She took on QSL Manager chores for several beginning Amateurs in Iraq and in the process taught them all about operating and DXing. For all of the foregoing and more, the American Radio Relay League is proud and honored to award Mary Ann Crider, WA3HUP its President's Award for 2005.
WOW,, what a HUGE loss the Ham Radio World has taken... I have known Mary Ann for 35 plus years... A jewel of a lady and friend. She never met a stranger. Rest with Gods care forever Mary Ann....de Dan Cisson N4GNR
Have known her more than 40 years with the exelent QSL Service. Will NEVER FORGET! Rest in peace, Mary Ann...
Never "knew" her but spoke to her on the air a few times and sent her QSLs many times...what a great individual and what an unselfish service.....thanks Mary.....rest now....you will be missed!
Mary A. Crider, WA3HUP SK SK March 12, 2016 Silent Key Mary Ann Crider, 91, formerly of Camp Hill and Lewisberry passed away on Saturday, March 12, 2016 at the Kinkora-Pythian Home in Duncannon. Mary Ann was born in East Providence Rhode Island on May 14, 1924 the daughter of the late Abilio Dos Santos and Rose Costa Santos. She was a homemaker, waitress at the old Three Gables and Lombardi's restaurants in Camp Hill as well as a Camp Hill police officer. Through the urging of her husband, Mary Ann became an amateur radio operator (WA3HUP) which was something she deeply loved for over 40 years. She made friends all over the world including the late King Hussein of Jordan who was also an amateur radio operator. That friendship allowed her to be his guest several times in the 1970s and lasted until his death. There was little that Mary Ann couldn't do and she wasn't afraid to try something new. She learned to paint having sold some of her paintings, knit, needlepoint, counted-cross-stitch, Other hobbies included gardening and bowling having won the Quad-County Ladies 600 Tournament with a 792 series in the early 1960s. She was a member of the Fishing Creek Salem United Methodist Church in Etters. Mary Ann was predeceased by her husband Charles Crider, Jr, son Charles Crider, III, and several sisters and brothers. Mary Ann is survived by her daughter Diane Welmon and husband Jerry of Geneva, Alabama, son Stephen Crider and wife Theresa of Duncannon, a sister Celeste Johannes of Rhode Island and a brother David Moura of Massachusetts. She is also survived by grandchildren Darlene Dunn, Clayton Dressler, Lisa Strenkoski, David Crider, Kevin Crider, Jonelle Spease, and great grandchildren, Alyssa, Hope, and Julia Strenkoski, Hannah Dunn, Danton and Brayden Dressler, Alexandra and William Crider, Brenton and Korie-Ann Crider and Brooke Spease. Visitation will be held Friday March 18, 2016 at the Myers-Harner Funeral Home, 1903 Market St., Camp Hill from 6:00 to 8:00 PM with memorial services being held at 10:00 AM on Saturday March 19, 2016 at the funeral home. Burial will follow at Rolling Green Cemetery. Being a life-long animal lover, especially dogs, the family requests that in lieu of flowers that a contribution be made in Mary Ann's memory to the animal shelter of your choice or to the Kinkora-Pythian Home, 25 Cove Road Duncannon, PA 17020 which Mary Ann considered home for the past two years. www.myers-harner.com Published on Pennlive.com and in The Patriot-News on Mar. 15, 2016 - See more at: http://obits.pennlive.com/obituarie...pid=178057076&fhid=22850#sthash.GcKnw5KR.dpuf
It's been so long since I had heard her name and call, probably the better part of twenty years. So long, Mary Anne, and peace to you and yours..
