[SCCC] KK6KK, SK

[Wayne Overbeck]

Some of you have already heard that Bob Mann, 
KK6KK, passed away about 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 13.  
I don't have any details to pass along except 
that it was the result of complications from 
his esophageal cancer.

Bob and I were friends for 45 years.  I first met
him in 1966 when he was a student at Riverside City
College.  I was a new faculty member there.  He came
into my office to introduce himself in person a day
or two after I worked him as WB6BGR on 15 meters
and somehow the subject of RCC came up on the air. 
He was probably best known by his second call, W6LKO.

Bob was a leader of the VHF repeater and remote base
community for many years.  (See below for a message 
about that aspect of his amateur radio life.)

A few years ago I invited Bob to go roving in a VHF 
contest, and he accepted.  He enjoyed it enough to 
keep doing it right up through last September.  At 
that point, Bob knew he was ill but didn't have 
an official diagnosis yet.  Somehow he managed to 
muster enough stamina to win--he was the #1 rover 
nationally in his last contest.  KX9X at the ARRL
contest desk prepared his certificate as soon as the
log-checking was done and Fedexed it to us on Nov. 10. 
In my last phone call to Bob, I told him that the 
official results were now out in QST.

We will all miss Bob's deep, authoritative voice and
his wonderful presence.

Wayne, N6NB


***************

> From: Matt Lechliter <w6kgb at roadrunner.com>
> Date: February 13, 2011 17:57:30 PST
> To: "Cactus Intertie" <cactus-intertie at stat.com>
> Subject: [cactus-intertie] Our friend Bob Mann (KK6KK / W6LKO) SK
> Reply-To: Matt Lechliter <w6kgb at roadrunner.com>
>
> Friends,
>
> It is with great sadness that I relate the passing of Bob Mann (KK6KK), who most know by his old call W6LKO. A long-time resident of Southern California & avid amateur radio operator, Bob carved out a good niche for himself. He is an accomplished VHF & Up contester & repeater/remote builder among other achievements. Many of the longer term members will know him from years past. Bob became a good friend to me as he was for those others who knew him. He lost his battle with esophageal cancer that had matasticised through his body. Sadly it took him quickly. He'd struggled in recent years with other medical problems, most notably his back. He'd had it operated on a couple years back due to spinal injuries.
>
> Many of the early Cactus participants were also participants in the WACKO group, headed by Bob & his friend Ron (WB6VSJ) which was very active in times past. One of the many 440 remote base groups of Southern California. Bob was one of the earlier users of UHF.
>
> More recently Bob had joined Rabbit Radio to become more active with the Intertie again. As a long-time friend of Emmett (WA6COT), I'm sure he'll offer his own reflections on Bob. Bob was also active with the renewal of the GRONK system & helped make our Blue Ridge re-install happen, as well as affiliating his sites with us. Cooperation in the amateur spirit. Although our friendship was much shorter than most of you, nonetheless he'll be very missed. It was always good chatting with Bob in his travels & we covered a lot of ground in our conversations.
>
> Announcements of any services will be forthcoming.
>
> 73,
> -Matt W6KGB
> GRONK Radio Network
> Rabbit Radio Network
> Crossbar Radio Network