W4COW - May 19, 2003

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Treasurer 1982 - 1996 Wesley C. 'Wes' Randles Framingham, MA QCWA 2440

Wes was living in Gulfport, Fl at the time he got his Amateur license in 1933. He was very active in Boy Scouts and rose to the rank of Eagle Scout though he never got a radio badge. During his years as a boy scout he and one of the other scouts carved a totem pole. This pole is now on display in the museum in Gulfport along with his sash with all the badges and his Eagle Scout badge. It was as a result of his activity in scouting that working as a volunteer at Radio Station WSUN when it was out on the pier. During this time and in 1933 he got his Ham ticket with the original call of W4COW which he held the rest of his life. This year he received his 70 year certificate.

He worked at WSUN until 1941 and in 1940 he and I were married in what was then called Turners Sunken Garden. I do not know when he joined the Tampa Amateur Radio Club but I do remember that use to go with him when he went on some of the hidden transmitter hunts. I was not a ham at that time as I did not get my license until 1954 but I enjoyed those hunts very much. A couple years later he was offered a job with Raytheon Co. And we moved to Massachusetts. He continued to work for Raytheon for 38 years until his retirement in 1980. After his retirement we spent our summers here in Massachusetts and our winters in Tampa and Wes again joined Tampa Amateur Radio Club. He was very active in ham radio, belonged to QCWA and served 14 years as Treasurer after which he was historian until his death. He belonged to many Amateur nets on 2 or 3 different bands. His biggest pleasure was going to Hamfest and meeting friends from all over the country as well as meeting new friends. He very often could be found working a QCWA table at the Miami Hamfest, the Clearwater Hamfest or several of them here in Mass.

He became SK on May 19, 2003 at the age of 86 and just 2 weeks short of our 63rd wedding anniversary.