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Robert H. 'Bob' Pentz Florence, KY QCWA # 25672 |
Robert H. Pentz Jr, 93, of Florence, KY passed away Friday, February 5, 2016.
He was a retired Superintendent with the former B & O Railroad, a member of Immanuel United Methodist Church, Lakeside Park, KY, a Navy Veteran of World War II, a Ham Radio operator, photographer, a Mason, a Kentucky Colonel, a Harmonica player, and graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Accounting.
He is survived by his Wife of 48 Years Margaret Pentz, 2 Sons Dr. Thomas Pentz and Robert H. Pentz III, 5 Grandchildren, and 7 Great Grandchildren.
Funeral Service will be at 11 AM, Wednesday, February 10 at Immanuel United Methodist Church, 2551 Dixie Highway, Lakeside Park, KY 41017.
Visitation will begin at 10 AM. Burial will be in Kentucky Veterans Cemetery North, Williamstown, KY.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Senior Citizens Group at Immanuel United Methodist Church. Online condolences may be made at www.stithfuneralhomes.com
Member Profile: Bob Pentz, K4DMA By Mark Volstad, AI4BJ
The Feedline - Northern Kentucky ARC - August 2009
A couple of years ago, I received a phone call out of the blue from a stranger, asking if I might be able to give him a ride to that evening.s NKARC meeting. That.s how I first met my good friend Robert (Bob) Pentz, one of the longest-standing, and . at age 86 . oldest members of the Northern Kentucky Amateur Radio Club.
Riding back and forth from meetings together, I have learned quite a bit about Bob and the history of the club. He recently invited me into his shack, where he filled in a few more details.
Bob earned a degree in Education from the University of Maryland. When Bob joined the Navy during World War II, he was given three choices for his posting: serving in the merchant marine, serving on a PT boat, or serving as an HF direction finding (DF) operator on a destroyer in the Atlantic. These were all dangerous jobs, but he figured that the third option probably carried the best survival odds! He went to radio school in Groton Heights, Connecticut, then was assigned to the destroyer USS Schenck (DD-159), an older ship that had been commissioned at the end of World War I. Bob's time on the Shenck included escorting convoys to North Africa (Casablanca), U-boat patrols along the east coast, and finally, serving as a torpedo target ship for aircraft!
While on leave in Baltimore during 1943, Bob took the FCC exam for the amateur radio General license, and passed. He would have to wait until after the war to use his new privileges however, as Congress had suspended all amateur radio operations for the duration of the war.
As teachers were still rather poorly paid at this time, when the war ended Bob went to work for the B&O Railroad in Baltimore. He worked in the office of the VP of Operations in a financial position until the B&O was taken over by the C&O Railway in the 1960s. At this point he transferred to the Detroit office. He stayed here for just one year, but it was at this time that he met and married his current wife, Marge. (Bob's first wife had died of cancer.)
In 1967, Bob made his final 'big move', this time to Cincinnati, and he soon joined the Northern Kentucky Amateur Radio Club. While working downtown, he met the local director of the Red Cross disaster services. This gentleman was very interested in enlisting the support of NKARC, and offered the club the use of a Red Cross building for it's meetings. In the summertime, the building was not available and meetings rotated between members' homes.
Bob remembers that the club went through many changes of meeting locations over the next few years, including a second-story room above a bar! The club finally found a long-term meeting location at the Presbyterian church in Ft. Mitchell, where he thinks the club stayed for about ten years.
In 1977, Bob volunteered as chairman of the club's annual hamfest, which was to be held at the fairgrounds in Burlington. While getting ready for the hamfest, word came of a terrible fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate. Club members passed health & welfare traffic during this tragic event.
Bob recalls that twenty years later, the club was again called upon to assist during an emergency, this time during the flooding in Falmouth of 1997.
Over the years, Bob has served as Vice President of NKARC, and has also helped to audit the club's financial records.
He retired in 1982 at the age of 59. Until recently, he and Marge have enjoyed exploring North America in a motor home. He has two sons and six grandchildren.
Osteoporosis and various other health issues are beginning to limit his ability to get around. Fortunately, he can use amateur radio to stay in touch with his friends via the Tin Can Sailors Net on Sunday afternoons on 20 meters, using his Kenwood TS-570D transceiver and a vertical antenna. Bob is a charter member of the net, holding membership ID #9.
The next time you sit down besides one of our .old-timers. at a club meeting, ask them how they became interested in amateur radio. You just might get an interesting story!