My pal, Rocky, died on December 1st, 2015. I talked with him for the last 15 years on 3.895 and like a lot of ham friends, never met him face to face. Rocky was always a kind and polite ham and was the kind of operator we all should want to be. I will miss his teasing about weather and football; I'll miss the stories about that boat; but most of all I'll miss my pal every morning before dawn. 73 my friend
I miss Rocky so much! He was a staple to the 3895 kHz early morning group all over Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois Wisconsin, and the southeastern U.S. from Virginia to Florida from 5-7 AM ET every morning. If Rocky wasn't on the air things just didn't seem right! When I first started talking to him he lived in Grand Rapids, MI where he has retired as a fire scene investigator for the Grand Rapids Fire Department. Rocky's callsign when he lived in Michigan was KD8FHM, but he changed it to KV4XL after moving to Georgia. I remember he always ran one of those W5GI Mystery Antennas that did a super job, he never did run an amplifier, but his old hybrid Kenwood radio, I forget the model number now,(I think it was a TS-870), always put a S-9 signal here in NC and after he moved into the basement apartment in his son's home in Kennesaw, GA he still put that same S-9 signal here! I wouldn't have even known he'd moved if he hadn't told me! Well, one morning Rocky wasn't on the air and the group was a little concerned, but when another day passed and he wasn't there we knew something was wrong! Someone telephoned him and left a message and his son got back in touch and told them when he got home from work he found his dad lying in the floor and he had suffered a massive heart attack and passed on. Everyone in our group sorely misses Rocky and we will never ever forget such the great friend that he became to us over the many years and QSOs we had. I think of him often. I know where Rocky's soul is at now and that is a great comfort. God is a lucky guy to have Rocky there with him! Rest in peace Rocky!