W6ZRZ - October 3, 2010

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Willis C. 'Bill' Hawley North Hollywood, CA QCWA # 7803 QCWA Chapter 7

Bill Hawley, W6ZRZ, passed away suddenly on the morning of Sunday October 3rd. He was climbing the outside stairs to a neighbor's apartment when he tumbled off the balcony onto the concrete below suffering a fatal concussion. Bill had turned 87 years old on April 21st of this year and was an active ham for well over 60 years, many years as an Extra Class ... he was a great CW operator. It was a shock to all that knew him. Bill leaves his daughter Debra, and his son Jim, and many many friends.

Bill was one of the charter members of the DARN repeater system dating back to the 60's. He was always available on the repeater to provide help in many forms, including traffic advisories, various system checks, and the frequent sports scores. Any time you came on the system and called 'Zurz?', he would reply 'Yeeeesss?' Bill helped maintain the DARN system by going along on many hill trips, and always giving input on what was happening. Bill also ran the QCWA VHF/UHF weekend net every Sunday morning on the DARN system. He had been running that net since the 70's and it had quite a following both on the air and through EchoLink.

In recent years, Bill would make his morning trip every weekday to the Joslyn senior center in Burbank for a few games of pool, and the great lunch they always provided. Sadly, in September he lost his driver's license, and we had arranged and were helping him get ready to move to the Evergreen Retirement home in Burbank on November 1st, where he would have had his own room, three good meals, and transportation to wherever he wanted ... and he could have taken Chessie, the cat he loved so much. I am so sorry we missed that opportunity; it would have been a good move to a great place. By the way we were able to find a good home for Chessie ... Bill would approve.

Bill was a great guy, and will be greatly missed by everyone that knew him. There is definitely a hole in our world that cannot be filled.

Very 73 OM,
Dick McKay, K6VGP