VE3CDM - September 18, 2007

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Director 2004 - 2006 Thomas B.J. 'Tom' Atkin Willowdave ON, Canada Born October 25, 1925 QCWA #18048 President Chapter 73 Chapters 70, 73 & 151 IARU Region 2 President (Retired) IARU Region 2 Vice President (Retired)

Thomas Atkins was born in 1925 and educated in the United Kingdom, immigrating to Canada in June 1952. He has dual citizenship. Following his wartime military service and University, he qualified as a UK amateur in May 1950 . He currently holds the Call sign G4ABN also VE3XTV.

A Life Member of QCWA since 1986, he is currently President of Chapter 73, the Fred Hammond Chapter, and was recently elected a QCWA Director.

Several years ago was involved with Ron Hesler, VE1SH(SK) in the formation of the Royal Palm Chapter. 152, in Naples Florida

His interest in organized amateur radio first began in Canada in 1968 when he became VE3CDM and joined the Radio Society of Ontario, being elected a Director and subsequently President. In 1983 he was elected ARRL Canadian Division Vice-Director and Director in 1986...a member of the ARRL Executive Committee.

He was actively involved in the creation of the Canadian Radio Relay League. CRRL becoming its first Secretary and subsequently President until his retirement in 1993.

He also served as Ontario Director for the Canadian Amateur Radio Federation (CARF) and was a member of the Canadian WARC 79 Advisory Committee.

In his CRRL capacity Tom first represented Canadian amateurs internationally in 1980 at a Region 2 Conference in Lima, Peru and in 1983 in Cali, Colombia was elected a member of the Region 2 Executive Committee serving as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President, and two 3 year terms as President until his retirement at the Region 2 General Assembly in Guatemala City in October 2001. after 18 years of service.

During this time he represented IARU Region 2 on the global IARU Administrative Council, serving on a number of different committees.

In his Region 2 capacity, prime responsibilities, in addition to the business affairs of Region 2, were the many external activities with IARU. and CITEL, including the development of the International Amateur Radio Permit (IARP) which was finally ratified in 1985 by the OAS General Assembly meeting in Haiti.

At WARC 1992, he was a member of the IARU Observer Team in Torremolinos, Spain, also at WRC 79 in Geneva . He participated in the Strategies Summit of Telecom 1996 in Rio de Janeiro with a presentation on Amateur Radio disaster communications.

He regularly attended the Regional Conferences of IARU Regions 1 and 3, and their Executive Committee meetings.

In 1983 Tom was honoured as Ontario Amateur of the Year; in 1991 CRRL Canadian Amateur of the Year, and most recently in 2002 was admitted as a Member of the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame for "outstanding service and excellence of the highest degree, for serious and sustained service to Amateur Radio in Canada and to Amateur Radio at large"

March-June 1988. via the North Pole

At that time he was CRRL President. and was responsible for organizing and coordinating all Canadian amateur communications , working with his Soviet counterpart and colleague Leonid Labutin, UA3CR(SK).

He was also pressed into service to help negotiate bi-lateral agreements for reciprocal operating and third-party traffic between Canada and the USSR, for the logistical and safety lifeline of this important expedition, in possibly the most hostile environment in the world,

Tom was one of the four signatories of this historic agreement confirming the communications for this crossing of the polar ice by the team of Russian and Canadian skiers. All communications with the expedition were handled over a three month period without incident, by Amateur Radio.

Tom and his chief operator VE3CDX were honoured by the Soviets with the Polar Bridge Medal

At present Tom is serving as an IARU Expert Consultant , all of whom are radio amateurs with particular expertise in technical and/or regulatory areas of relevance to the ITU. They are expected to offer "behind the scenes" assistance and advice as required.

Throughout his professional career he was involved in commercial television broadcasting, marketing and management, and also in broadcasting industry association activity, being a founding member of the Canadian Broadcast Executives Society and a Director of the Television Bureau of Advertising and member of the Quarter Century Club of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters.

His background also includes 26 years of active and reserve military service beginning with Royal Navy, Combined Operations in 1943, followed by service in the Signal Corps of the British and Canadian Armed Forces, retiring in 1969 as a reserve officer Tom is married with two married daughters and four grandsons, and lives with his wife Jo in their home in Toronto .

S.W Ontario RAC Director Bob Cooke VE3BDB was on hand to present Chapter 73 President Tom Atkins VE3CDM with a plaque representing his induction into the Canadian Radio Amateur Hall of Fame.

Left to right: IARU Region II President Tom Atkins, VE3CDM; Fred Hammond, VE3HC; and IARU President Larry Price, W4RA, at Fred Hammond's Museum of Radio in Guelph, Ontario, during 1997.

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I have known Tom for several decades - he participated actively in three of the Canadian QCWA Conventions and his leadership in Region 2 of the IARU will be well remembered..

Tom Atkins, VE3CDM (SK)
Former ARRL Canadian Division Director and IARU Region 2 President Tom Atkins, VE3CDM, passed away Tuesday, September 18. He was 81. Atkins was the last Director of the ARRL's Canadian Division before the Canadian Radio Relay League (CRRL), a predecessor to the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC), began to operate independently in 1988. He served as ARRL Director from September 20, 1982-January 1, 1988.

Atkins also served as President of IARU Region 2 for two three-year terms, 1995-2001, after holding every other office in Region 2 -- Treasurer, Secretary and Vice President -- in succession between 1983 and 1995. He also served on the IARU Administrative Council and as an IARU Expert Consultant.

According to his children, Atkins' proudest accomplishments occurred in the world of Amateur Radio, not only serving on the international front, but in Canada in various Ontario ham radio organizations. He led the communications team on the Canadian side of the joint Canada-USSR trans-polar ski trek in 1988, leading to a number of lasting international friendships. In recognition of his many years of service to all these various organizations and initiatives, Atkins was elected Canadian Amateur of the Year in 1991 by his fellow hams, and was named to the Radio Amateurs of Canada Hall of Fame in 2003.

IARU Vice President and fellow Canadian Tim Ellam, VE6SH, said, "Tom was a mentor to many amateurs, especially those who worked with the CRRL in the late 1980s. He encouraged me to become involved with the Canadian Radio Relay League and the IARU, and was very helpful to me personally when I became General Counsel of the CRRL. Tom will be sorely missed."

A memorial service to celebrate Atkins' life will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, September 22 at St Matthew The Apostle Oriole Anglican Parish, 80 George Henry Blvd, North York, Ontario, with refreshments to follow in the parish hall. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Atkins' memory be made to the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Alzheimer Society of Canada or St Matthew The Apostle Oriole Parish.

Tom Atkins, VE3CDM, has been elected to the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. This, for his extensive contribution over many years to Canadian and International Amateur Radio activities through his active involvement in numerous organizations including Radio Amateurs of Canada and the CNIB Amateur Radio Society for blind radio amateurs.

Atkins retired as President of IARU Region 2 in 2001 after having served in all of its Executive positions for eighteen years. And during this time was a member of the IARU Administrative Council and is currently serving as an IARU Expert Consultant.

THOMAS B. J. 'TOM' ATKINS
Suddenly on Tuesday, September 18, 2007, Thomas B.J. 'Tom' Atkins, ham radio call sign VE3CDM (or as he would say, 'victor-echo-three-cool-dry-martini') passed away at home, at the age of 81. Dad's integrity, generosity and work ethic inspired us all. He generously gave his time and effort to support many others, in particular through his service as a leader of many ham radio organizations in Canada and around the world.

Dad passed away after a tough year of medical problems following an unexpected hip fracture in September 2006. Up until his accident, he was fully independent, living with Mum in their family home of 45 years in Don Mills and travelling the world. He was a founder of St. Matthew The Apostle Oriole Anglican Parish, where he faithfully attended services every week until his accident. In his last months Dad suffered from dementia which developed aggressively after his hip fracture, but he never forgot the faces of his loving family.

Having trained originally as a lawyer in his native England, Tom emigrated to Canada in 1952 with his bride Joan "Jo". After starting his professional career in Canada as a banker with CIBC, Tom followed his love of all things electronic into the fledgling Canadian television industry where he ultimately held senior executive positions with CBC, CTV, and Bushnell Communications (now Standard Radio).

While his business successes were many, Tom's proudest accomplishments occurred in the world of amateur radio, where he served as President of Region 2 (The Americas) of the International Amateur Radio Union, after completing a number of terms as President of the Canadian Radio Relay League and, before that, various Ontario ham radio organizations. Tom led the communications team on the Canadian side of the joint Canada-USSR trans-polar ski trek in 1988, which led to a number of lasting international friendships. In recognition of his many years of service to all these various organizations and initiatives, Tom was selected Canadian Amateur of the Year in 1991 by his fellow hams, and was named to the Radio Amateurs of Canada Hall of Fame in 2003.

Dad served in WWII as an LST signals officer in the British Navy, and later as a captain in the Canadian Forces reserves. He was proud to have served both his native and adopted countries honourably. Like many combat veterans, he never spoke much about his military service but in his last months as the dementia advanced, some of those memories haunted his dreams.

He leaves behind Jo, his loving wife of 55 years, his two daughters and their families: Margaret Shan Atkins of Chicago, her husband Jim Erbs and grandsons David, Andrew and Graham Erbs; and his daughter Elizabeth Joan ('Liz') Atkins of Toronto, her husband Paul Dorgan and grandson James Dorgan; his sister Joyce Rattray of Newmarket, England and brother Clifford Atkins of Upton-on-Severn, England. He was predeceased by his youngest brother Robert Atkins, and by his parents Clifford and Bronwen Atkins. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Many thanks to the many kind caregivers at Amica of Bayview for the compassion they have all shown to both Mum and Dad over these recent difficult months. A memorial service to celebrate Dad's life will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 22 at St. Matthew The Apostle Oriole Anglican Parish, 80 George Henry Boulevard, North York, with refreshments to follow in the parish hall. In lieu of flowers the family request that donations in Dad's memory be made to the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Alzheimer Society of Canada, or St. Matthew The Apostle Oriole.

Date Posted: 2007-09-20