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Richard E. 'Rick' Thornton Wilmington, NC QCWA # 36627 Chapter 126 |
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RICHARD E. THORNTON Richard E. (Rick) Thornton, 74, of Wilmington, NC, beloved husband of Ann E. (Nally) Thornton, passed away July 21, 2018, following a long illness. Born in Providence, RI, Rick was the son of Caris V. (Anthony) Thornton and Walter P. Thornton, and grew up in East Greenwich, RI. He leaves a daughter, Caris Drury, son-in-law David Drury, and grandchildren William and Lauren Drury. He also leaves his brother David Thornton and his wife, Barbara Thornton, as well as nephew Eric Thornton and nieces Holly Christensen and Sarah Christensen. Rick worked as a systems engineer for Raytheon Corporation for 42 years before retirement. He was a graduate of Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts. He had a variety of interests and was an amateur radio enthusiast, contacting other "ham radio operators" all over the world for many years. While living in Groton, MA, he raised and showed Jack Russell Terriers. He played guitar and enjoyed folk music and classical music, especially Mozart. When he moved to Marblehead, MA, Rick was active as a member of the board of Symphony-by-the-Sea. A visitation gathering of family and friends will be held on Friday, July 27, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Andrews Mortuary, 4108 South College Road, Wilmington, NC 28409. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Symphony-by-the-Sea at P.O. Box 1425, Marblehead, MA 01945 or at www.symphonybythesea.org. Condolences to the family at www.andrewsmortuary.com Andrews Valley Chapel
My name is Rick.
I was living in Massachusetts and was first licensed in 1978 as WB1DYY but didn.t make first contact until 1989 (no sense rushing into it) using a Heathkit HW-9 that I built. WB1DYY was the worst call sign imaginable. To send it three times at novice 5 wpm speed gave the ham at the other end time to run to the kitchen to get something to eat.
I upgraded in 1990 to Advanced and picked up a better call sign, KC1TA. At year.s end I bought a Drake C-Line and used it until March of 1993 when I went off the air.
In 2006 I retired from Raytheon after 42 years of service
In July of 2008, I was back on the air in Nevada with the call KC7TA. My rig was a Yaesu FT-747 that I used for about a year (wish I still had it). I picked up a Yaesu FT-980 on Ebay that I still use as a backup. I love that old girl . all controls are on the front panel. It was just about the last radio of that type in production until menu-driven rigs took over. It still does occasional duty now and then.
In March 2010, I passed the Extra. There - I will never have to take another test again.
In 2011, I moved back to Massachusetts and got KC1TA back. Even though it was original issue, when I got it back it was a vanity call. In 2012 I bought a TenTec OMNI VII, with auto tuner and CW filters. At the same time I bought a 5-band Cushcraft MA5B minibeam. It.s a nice combination. In the picture of the minibeam, the vertical antenna above the beam is for 2 meters.
In December 2012, I applied for and received the call K1IZ.
73 to all, Rick
WAC-WAS-DXCC