Silent Keys
Through amateur radio we're fortunate to make many friends both near and far, yet a sad fact of life is that at some time or another we have to say a final farewell to people we've known and loved. Here on this page we can remember those hams from the ENY section who have passed on, reliving fond memories and looking forward to a time when we might see them again.
"73" to those who have passed before us...
Frank Stone KB2YUR
1953 - 2007
The Amateur Radio Service, and the Eastern New York Section in particular, lost a great friend and Section Emergency Coordinator on 7/17/07. Frank Stone KB2YUR passed away after fighting a long and valiant battle with cancer. Frank's dedication to emergency communications, professionalism, generosity and friendship will be sorely missed by all who knew him; and his contributions to the service and section have touched us all - either directly or indirectly.
Frank is survived by his wife Sylvia K2SLY, and mother. Please keep Frank, Sylvia and Mrs. Stone in your hearts and prayers during this difficult time.
Donations in Frank's memory may be made to the following:
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Or
Masonic Brotherhood Fund
7 Kinderhook Street
Chatham, NY 12037
George Russell Monroe AK2L
1927 - 2007
From Russell Monroe:
"My Dad died this morning, sitting at his picnic table in his
yard in Poughkeepsie, New York. He was 80.
George R. Monroe was born on February 3rd in 1927. As a boy in Northfield, New
Jersey he already had a love for, and an uncommon understanding of, the miracle
gadgetry of radio. He also had an amazing CW "fist" by the time he was a
teenager.
He served as a radio operator on a minesweeper (USS YMS 330) in the Sea of
Japan, among other places. After the war he went back to sea in the summers as a
radio operator on Sun Oil tankers to augment the GI bill for his RPI education.
A member of engineering's oldest honor society, Tau Beta Pi, he went to work for
IBM as a Systems Designer.
He was part of IBM in it's most exciting, innovative era. A time he dearly
loved. He worked on the first solid state computer after Bell Labs invented the
transistor in 1955. He, along with his two invention partners Carl Christiansen
and Larry Canter, gave IBM the Channel System, or Data Synchronizer, in 1957.
And by the time all it's challenges were cleared in 1969 it became one of the
most important patents in IBM's history.
He struggled back to full speed after a series of strokes in the early eighties, using his CW skills to put the life and coordination back into his hands and mind. He had incredible grit, astounding perception, and a depth of character I fear I will never see again.
As an adventurer, he mastered the air and the sea. He was a
husband and father who knew when to be tough when it was needed, when to be
patient when it was called for, and when to stay calm when everyone else was in
a panic. He could always see right through humanity's affectations to see the
core of what was real, and what mattered. I can't count how many times he helped
me keep both my feet on the ground, while at the same time, teaching me to fly
in every way that matters.
He leaves behind Elaine Faith, his wife of 57 years, Susan Elaine, his loving
daughter, and Russell William, his grateful son."