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Friend : Henry M. Bettman (KE6MOA)

Silent Key - KE6MOA, Henry M. Bettman

QST, QST, QST: Henry KE6MOA recently become a silent key just shy of his 84th birthday.

At age 80, Henry embarked upon a new hobby and realized his dream of becoming a ham radio operator. What an appropriate call sign for a first time ham of 80 years old, KE6MOA - "Kilowatt Echo Six Mighty Old Amateur". In September
of 1994, K6WR - Brad Wyatt, ARRL Pacific Division Director, noticed that Henry KE6MOA was not the oldest ham that month to receive his first license. There was another ham of age 84 so Henry was really a youngster among the crowd. That is how he always wanted to be remembered.

His son Barry, K6ST (ex WB6UTY) of Half Moon Bay, CA, recalls Henry enjoyed bragging on the air of passing his license and would tell everyone, “I only flunked the test 5 times”. He was very proud of this realizing this dream as Henry had no
prior electronic or radio training in his life.

Unfortunately, in 1995 Henry's health began to deteriorate with an Alzheimer’s like dementia. His son Barry K6ST remembers how difficult it was for Henry to figure out and remember the many knobs and controls there were on the radios. As a result, Barry K6ST@arrl.net who is a Business and Personal Coach now works with other hams and their families to help them in their lives and understand how to cope with situations like these. Henry is survived by his family of which 3 are hams: Son Barry K6ST, Grandson Aaron KE6ZZS, and Son in law Terry KE6WRE.

Even though we have not heard Henry KE6MOA on the local 146.925 WA6TOW repeater in Pacifica California for some time now, he will be remembered by many as a jovial “Might Old Amateur” full of pep and vigor. Tom KE6IB and other hams use to get a chuckle when Henry would be on the air.

Henry KE6MOA will be remembered as an inspiration for hams to get their ticket or upgrade no matter what age or challenge they might have!

Contributed by : K6ST (K6ST)

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Friend's CallsignKE6MOA
Friend's NameHenry M. Bettman
Date DeceasedSeptember 24, 1997
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