[CQ-Contest] AA5B SK

[Ray]

I am very sad to let everyone know that my friend Bruce Draper, AA5B, lost
his battle with brain cancer and became a silent key last night.

Bruce was a great friend of mine for over 50 years. We met in High School
in Delaware and then were both Electrical Engineering Majors at the
University of Delaware. He and his wife Dorothy moved to Albuquerque after
completing an MSEE from Princeton and Bruce had a long career at Sandia
Labs. The move to New Mexico resulted in the AA5 Banana call sign
which became quite active and started to appear in many contest logs.

Over the years Bruce distinguished himself as both a single operator and
multi-op contestor. I was privileged to be part of many multi-op teams with
him and appreciate all of those memories. He was a great teammate and I
will miss him.

Many of you will remember him from the many QSO's but some will also recall
his time as an editor of NCJ as well as the Contest Calendar in QST.

While it is sad to say good bye Bruce's life and his many accomplishments
deserve to be celebrated.

RIP OM

Ray K9RS