SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX007
ARLX007 Past SCM, DXer, Propagation Forecaster Lee Wical, KH6BZF
(SK)

ZCZC AX07
QST de W1AW  
Special Bulletin 7  ARLX007
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  May 5, 2014
To all radio amateurs 

SB SPCL ARL ARLX007
ARLX007 Past SCM, DXer, Propagation Forecaster Lee Wical, KH6BZF
(SK)

Lee C. Wical, KH6BZF, of Kaneohe, Hawaii, died May 2 after a period
of declining health. He was 79 and had not been active on the air in
recent years. Growing up in Ohio, Wical became interested in radio
after getting an old Atwater-Kent from his grandfather in 1938,
becoming a BCL and, later, an SWL. His uncle and a cousin both were
hams. His early aspirations were to become a minor league baseball
player, but he opted eventually for a career in electrical
engineering.

Wical said on his http://www.qrz.com page that he learned Morse code
while in the Boy Scouts, and that his knowledge of the code
attracted the interest of the US Army Signal Corps when he was in
the service during the Korean Conflict. He got his Novice ticket in
1955 while in Hawaii and almost immediately became interested into
DXing.

While attending college on the GI Bill, he got his first class FCC
Radiotelephone License and went to work for broadcast stations in
Ohio. After graduation he moved to Hawaii and was employed in
various engineering positions before signing on with the federal
government for 36 years. Following that, he resumed his career at
ATT and Lucent Technologies, working around the world before
finally retiring in 1997.

From 1962 until 1972, Wical served as ARRL Section Communications
Manager (now SM) for Hawaii. He also was a state MARS director.
Wical was an ARRL VEC and W5YI volunteer examiner "to put something
back into radio, which gave me a great vocation and a great hobby,"
as he explained. He was an ARRL Charter Life Member as well as a
life member of the QCWA and of AMSAT. He was a charter member and
co-founder of the Honolulu DX Club and on the club's Board of
Directors.

Wical had attained the ARRL DXCC Honor Roll with 358 entities
confirmed. He belonged to the A-1 Operators Club and ARRL's Old
Timer's Club. He edited and published the "KH6BZF Reports" HF
propagation forecast and occasionally prepared the ARRL Propagation
Bulletin for W1AW.

An ARRL Diamond Club member, Wical also belonged to the ARRL Legacy
Circle and had included the ARRL in his estate.
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/EX