Sadly, the great OM of EPA, Allen R. Breiner, W3TI (ex: W3ZRQ) is gone. He was 88.
Al was my high school teacher back in the 1970s. He got me turned on to amateur radio and administered my novice exam, yielding a 17-year-old KA3AFZ. I was but one of hundreds of hams with their roots in Carbon and Schuylkill counties in EPA who can thank W3TI for enlightening us to this great pastime!
W3TI held many ARRL leadership posts in EPA, including Section Manager (twice, if I recall). He is and always will be the face of the Tamaqua Transmitting Society and its prolific VE program. Al was a tough examiner and mentor, but if he was your guide, you made it through the journey with flying colors!
Al had a tremendous passion for amateur radio and it was obvious in everything he did. It was infectious, as all of his friends and prodigies seem to have picked up the same passion.
Ham radio is better for having W3TI as such a powerful influence. It is up to me and his other "offspring" to now carry on his great legacy. Al Breiner is not really gone because every one of us is proof that your impact can be immortal, even if your physical body cannot.
VY 73 de Glenn K3PP (ex: KA3AFZ, N3BDA)