Carl was my elmer. I got to know him because he and his XYL Betty were my sister's friends. My dad and I went over to Carl's house one time and he took us out back to his "shack". He fired up his old AM rig and made contact with a fellow about 100 or so miles away. He handed the mike to my dad first to say hello to the ham on the other end, then to me. I could hardly get a few words of introduction out, I was so nervous, but I think the hook was set right then and there. Before the night was out, Carl went in the house and drug an old receiver out from under his bed and let me take it home to listen to. It didn't even have a cabinet on it, just a mass of exposed wires and tubes and capacitors. I spent untold hours scouring the bands with that receiver, hearing every kind of squeal, pop, crackle and broadcast station imaginable, even occasionally a ham signal or two. Carl told my dad and me that he had several other people who were interested in ham radio too and he felt like he had enough people to justify a class, so he started a class once a week. As a result, both my dad and I got our ham licenses. I got KN5LTH in June of '61, at age 12, and my dad got WN5BEM a few months later.
Bottom line is, Carl gave selflessly of himself and his time and talents and I can now look back over my 51 years as a ham and know precisely where it started and who I have to thank for it. My life career in military electronics and then civilian electronics and broadcast have been a direct outgrowth of that early exposure to ham radio. Thanks, Carl. You were a good influence and you'll be missed.