Bill Borgman, K8CJQ, from Allegan, Michigan, a
long time friend of so many of us, has passed
away.
Bill was a field engineer located at the FCC's
Allegan monitoring station for years.
He was always a good friend to the broadcast
community, preferring to work with stations.
Bill has had a series of severe illness's over the
last few years.
But yet, he was at the Dayton Hamvention this
year, with his 'CJQ smile.
And those of us who had any "industry"
connection with him at the FCC,
we are reminded of his soft words of
encouragement to "do things right",
and his professionalism.
From tom bosscher k8tb
In the early 1980s I maintained several microwave relay stations for a major telephone long-lines carrier. One day I was working (loafing?) at one of my sites in southern Illinois that was a mile off the road and tucked way back in the hills. Because of its location, one could hear a bird's feather falling on the ground. I heard a vehicle sound and stopped what I was doing (woke up?) to peer down the hill to see an unmarked white van slowly working its way up the pathway. Upon approaching the driver to see what he wanted, Bill Borgman introduced himself as an FCC field engineer arriving to spot-check my site. Immediately I went into "condition: RED" and thought, "uh-oh." But Bill was congenial, laid-back and extremely intelligent. We had a wonderful afternoon and he showed me that not all bureaucrats had to be stuffy buffoons. He immediately disarmed me with his sense of humor and "regular guy" qualities. Amateur radio and the technical world at large has lost one of its best. Thank you for all you were.