Al Hicks was truly one of the The Greatest in my Mind
A recent comment from TG9NX, he saud if Al could not get the DX on the first
call, he would use those AMPS. HIHI
Al was last seen by many of us at Dayton May 16th.
Top 40-meter DXer Al Hix, W8AH, SK (Jul 1, 2003) -- Albert H. "Al" Hix, W8AH,
of Charleston, West Virginia, died June 25, after a brief illness. He was 85. A
DXCC Honor Roll member with 388 entities confirmed, Hix also was at the top of
the worldwide 40-meter DXCC pile with 362 entities. ARRL West Virginia Section
Manager Hal Turley, KC8FS, said Hix could be tenacious in a DX pileup. "But
away from his radio and off his 'battlefield,' he was a true gentleman,
uncharacteristically meek and mild, one who loved to share his love for our
hobby and especially this thing called DX," Turley said. Licensed in the 1930s
while in high school in Charleston, Hix was an electrical engineering graduate
of West Virginia University. Following his graduation with an ROTC commission,
he served during World War II as an officer in the US Army Signal Corps in
Europe. After the war, he worked for Union Carbide from 1947 until he retired
in 1985. A past president of the West Virginia State Radio Council and of the
West Virginia Quarter Century Wireless Association, Hix was voted West Virginia
Outstanding Amateur Radio Operator of the Year in 1986. He was a member of ARRL
and of the Kanawha Amateur Radio Club. He also was vice president of the
Instrument Society of America (ISA) and was named an ISA Fellow. Survivors
include his wife, Connie, and a brother, James. Hix was buried with military
gravesite rites. The family invites donations to the ARRL Albert H. Hix
Memorial Scholarship Fund, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111-1484.
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