Bill, 75, died Thursday, April 9, 2009, at his residence after a long fight with cancer. Preceding him in death was his wife, Thelma; son, Keith Sr; grandson, William III; brothers, Michael and John; and sister, Marie.

Bill was proud to be a free mason in the Hiram Lodge 17, AF and AM and a ham radio operator (K2YJE). Retired from ATandT, Bill and Thelma relocated to Virginia, where he had lived for the last 22 years.

Surviving are daughter, Connie Bateman of Rustburg; sons, William Ed O'Donnell Jr. and his wife, Linda, of New Jersey, Sean O'Donnell of Concord and Chris O'Donnell of Lynchburg; brothers, Tom and Kevin; sisters, Lillian, Ellen, Kathy and Michelle; sister-in-law, Willie Miller; and family friend, Lucy Williams.

In lieu of flowers, please consider the South Central Spay and Neuter Clinic, 29 Mortimer Drive, Evington, VA 24550.

A memorial service will be conducted at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 18, 2009, at Whitten Timberlake Chapel. The family will receive friends after the service.

To send condolences and messages online, please visit www.whittenfuneralhome.com. Whitten Funeral Homes and Cremation Services, Timberlake Chapel, is serving the O'Donnell family.

Published by Lynchburg News & Advance from Apr. 12 to Apr. 17, 2009.

Monday, May 24, 2010
K2YJE - SK
Looking through my May QST for the umpteenth time, I came across the Silent Key page, only to see that Ed O Donnell, K2YJE has become a silent key. Ed was an "average Joe" Ham, he was not one of your standout celebrity Hams. But what Ed did have was a love of the hobby and the desire to share it. Ed O Donnell taught me how to be a Ham 32 years ago.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was out of school with a full time job. For a long time I had wanted to be an Amateur Radio operator, and the spark ignited during high school; but I did not have the discipline to let the spark develop into a flame. With newly acquired spare time and some disposable income, I was ready! Through the local newspaper, I read about a class being formed on Tuesday evenings at North Brunswick High School as part of their Adult Education program. I signed up and eagerly joined the class. There were about 20 of us there, ranging in age from high schoolers to retirees. Ed made the concepts simple to understand. We were given the ARRL Morse Code class on cassette tapes and between classes we studied and studied and studied some more!

The evening of the test, which was for the Novice class license, we were all a bunch of nerves. Everyone had worked hard and no one wanted to fail. Sensing our nerves, Ed and the other instructor (whose name and call escapes me) gave us a "practice" code test. Needless to say, we all passed and were given our written exam. Back in those days the Novice test was given by General class or higher "Volunteer Examiners" (shades of things to come). Six weeks later, I received an envelope form the FCC in Gettysburg, PA informing me that I was now KA2DOH.

The bottom line is that Ed helped me get my ticket and started me down a long, winding road on which I still travel today. If it wasn't for his help, his enthusiasm and his encouragement, there are a lot of friends, good times and memories that I have now that wouldn't have been. And he taught me one other, valuable lesson .... to take the knowledge that he passed on to me and to share that with others in turn. And that my friends, is the best way to say "Thanks" to your Elmer.

Thank you, Ed and may you always have good DX and great propagation from the Big Shack in the Sky.

72 de Larry W2LJ