[NCC] K8MMM, SK

[Tom Lee]

To the NCC Warriors:

Many of you may remember Tom Baker, K8MMM.  Tom was a true ham legend here
in N.E. Ohio, and was well known throughout the area for his radio exploits,
both on HF and VHF.  More importantly, Tom was one of the original good guys
and helped out hundreds of hams with antenna and amplifier projects, never
asking for anything in return.  In recent years, Tom was a regular at the
K8AZ Christmas parties.

I received word about a week ago from Darren Humphreys, KB3MHX, Tom's
business partner, that Tom had been suffering from an equilibrium/balance
problem since June.  He was diagniosed with a stroke several weeks later,
was subsequently re-admitted to the hospital and has been in a skilled
nursing facility in Edinboro for the past month.

Despite substantial testing, the doctors were unable to determine precisely
what was ailing Tom, other than to suggest that it was some kind of
progressive brain disease.  The last word I heard was that they had ruled
out Parkinson's and Huntington and were focusing on a rare disorder known as
"Paraneoplatics Syndrome."

Tom was definitely one of the good ones -- one of the guys who make us all
proud to be hams.  He will be greatly missed.

RIP, old friend.

Tom, K8AZ

...     -.-