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The ARRL Letter
Vol. 23, No. 07
February 13, 2004
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==>JIM WHITE, K4OJ, SK--J7A OPERATION DEDICATED TO POPULAR CONTESTER
The Amateur Radio contesting community is mourning the death of James A.
"Jim" White, K4OJ, (ex-K1ZX and ex-WA1NNC), of Seffner, Florida. The
well-known ham radio contesting enthusiast underwent heart valve surgery
February 11, but succumbed to liver failure the following day. The J7A
operation from Dominica during the ARRL International DX Contest (CW)
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2004/intldx.html> February 21-22 will
be dedicated to White.
"Jim White, K4OJ, was a dear friend and a continual inspiration to
contesting," said George Wagner, K5KG, in announcing the planned
on-the-air tribute. "OJ, as we affectionately called him. was always
positive and ready to help, inspire, learn, tease, quip, pontificate and
challenge all of us."
A member of The Florida Contest Group (FCG)
<http://www.floridacontestgroup.org/> which White organized, Wagner,
fellow FCG member John Colyard, W4IX, and John Bednar, K3TEJ, will be the
J7A operators. Wagner says FCG members will always remember White as the
father of the organization, which he founded a decade ago, serving as its
first president. "When you see that sea of orange shirts at Dayton, you
will remember OJ," he said, referring to the group's brightly hued
signature apparel.
An ARRL Life Member and a Headquarters employee during the 1970s, White
was the son of Ellen White, W1YL, and the late Bob White, W1CW, both
well-known amateurs and former ARRL staff members. Not surprisingly, Jim
White worked in the ARRL Contest Branch. Over the years, he also authored
articles for National Contest Journal as well as for QST.
After Bob White died in 2002, Jim White established the R. L. White
Memorial Operators' Club to keep his father's W1CW call sign active during
various operating events. Always sporting a big signal out of South
Florida, Jim White shared a multiop contest station with his mother. Ellen
White said K4OJ was on the air during the First Class CW Operators' Club
<http://www.firstclasscw.org.uk/> Marathon just this past weekend. "His
operating abilities were manifest, and he almost always was the first one
to volunteer his help, in spite of his declining physical abilities," she
said.
White once said he was bitten by the contest bug after being enlisted as
the Novice op for the Connecticut Wireless Association's Field Day effort.
In the years since, his call sign has turned up regularly in the results
of various contests--often at or near the top of the pile.
"I love contesting," he said in his call sign listing on QRZ.com. "There
is something about the camaraderie, discipline and knowledge contesting
demands that fits me; it doesn't fit everyone . . . but it sure fits me."
In addition to his mother, White's survivors include his wife Theresa and
five stepchildren. Per his wishes, there will be no formal service. The
family invites memorial donations to the Florida Contest Group White
Memorial Fund--now honoring both W1CW and K4OJ--care of Fred Perkins,
K4LQ, 3437 Lake Josephine Dr, Lake Placid, FL 33852.
===========================================================
The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each year, by the American
Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur Radio--225 Main
St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259;
<http://www.arrl.org>. Jim Haynie, W5JBP, President.
The ARRL Letter offers a weekly e-mail digest of essential news of
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Material from The ARRL Letter may be republished or reproduced in whole or
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The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League.
--
Jim Reisert AD1C, 7 Charlemont Court, North Chelmsford, MA 01863
USA +978-251-9933, <jjreisert@alum.mit.edu>, http://www.ad1c.com
PGP Fingerprint: D8E2 3D78 339F A7F1 8C13 1193 B5D1 4FB6 79D1 70DC
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