Worked Ben on 80 meters SSB, many times. Great ham. Didn't coplain about his situation at all. R.I.P. brother. VW
Ben sure was a character. He liked to joke around a lot. Could take it as well as dish it out. We used to get on the air, and have a blast picking at each other. We picked at each other all the time, but everyone knew it was just a game we played. Sure gonna miss that. My wife always referred to him as Crazy Ben. He didn't mind it all. When he was in better health, he bought an old Honda Goldwing to ride along with us. Didn't get to ride long though. He put it in the ditch coming down the mountain one day. He told everyone on the air that I stuck a stick in front wheel, causing him to crash. I played right alone taking all of the credit for his crash. All of his close friends knew he was dying soon. But, he never let that get him down, and he didn't want it to get his friends down either. He always manged a smile or a joke. He had told me that his doctors had given him only 6 months to live. Well, that was close to a year ago. Sure am glad for the extra time he got. He made the most of it. Yeah, sure miss the old fart.....