In Memory of Hank Kohl

K8DD, Hank Kohl, 67, become a Silent Key on November 13, 2010 due to respiratory complications following surgery. He had been hospitalized for over a month. He is survived by his wife Kathie, son Andy and daughter Carolyn.

Hank served in the Air National Guard and worked for thirty-seven years for Burroughs/Unisys as a Field Engineer. In a past life he worked as a projectionist, a audio sales person, a consultant for Port Electronics and, as a teenager, a soda Jerk.

An active DXer and contester, Hank was a member of the Southeast Michigan DX Association (SEMDXA) and the Mad River Radio Club. Locally he belonged to the Eastern Michigan Amateur Radio Club (EMARC) and the Lapeer County Amateur Radio Association (LCARA). He was newsletter editor of the LCARA Waveguide. He was a former member of the L"Anse Creuse Amateur Radio Club (LCARC)

Buck, N8CQA (SK) introduced Hank to the joys of QRP. He held leadership positions in the Michigan QRP Club (M-QRP) and QRP Amateur Radio Club International (QRP-ARCI) of which he was a board member. If you got a room at FDIM in their Fairborn, OH site you got it with Hank's help. One of the proudest moments of his life was when he was inducted into the QRP Hall of Fame (perhaps the only time the "Duck" was almost speechless). He was a proud member of the Flying Pigs (FPQRP), the G-QRP Club and many other QRP organizations. When someone would come up to the booth at Dayton or at a swap table and say "life's too short for QRP" Hank would respond "No, life's too short not to try everything in Ham Radio".

Hank's first call was KN3DCB in 1958. He upgraded to the general class K3DCB in 1958 with W8GLC as a secondary station license acquired in 1964, then K8DD in 1977. He got the VE3RDD advanced class call in Canada in 2004.

Hank teamed with Stan, AC8W, on many operations from DX locations. The trip usually coincided with a contest, mostly the February ARRL DX CW. Often they would team up with other friends for adventure and the love of radio. Here are some of K8DD's DX calls:

• VP2MEH 1979
• KH0/K8DD, 1992
• K8DD/C6A, 1997, 1998, 1999
• FP/K8DD, 2000, 2001, 2005
• VC2C (zone 2), 2002
• V47DD, 2003
• VB2C (zone 2)2003
• V47DD, 2003
• VO2AAA(zone 2), 2004
• KH6/K8DD, 2005
• MD/K8DD, 2006
• HK1/K8DD, 2007
• PZ5DD, 2008
• YN2DD, 2009 and 2010

Hank loved operating activities. Special events like the Port Huron to Mackinac Sailboat Race, putting the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse or the Huron Lightship on the air. If there was a spot to fill at Operation Care at the I-69 Rest Area east of Lapeer, or the Blue Water Ramble Bicycle Tour through St. Clair County you could count on him. He never missed an ARRL Field Day. CW was his favorite mode (although we do have a rare picture or two of him with a microphone in his hand). His last operating event was in late September of 2010 when Hank, Kath, Trish and Stan drove down to the Ten-Tec Homecoming Hamfest and W4DXCC in Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, TN to represent QRP-ARCI. K8DD drove the lesser travelled roads while AC8W operated on County Hunter frequencies handing out over sixty "rarer" counties.

Hank selflessly gave a lot of his time to various amateur radio groups and was always a welcome guest at club meetings and gatherings. He made many friends all over the country and the world, and looked forward to going to Dayton every year to see many of them face to face. You could always call him up and ask him for help with something and he'd drop what he was doing to give you a hand no matter what it was. If you needed help with a computer or anything related to amateur radio, he had the answer or could help you find out what you wanted to know. No matter how simple your question was, he never treated you like were stupid even if you probably should have known the answer.

He was generous with a smile. If you asked him "How are you?" he would quickly respond and say, "Great, fine, wonderful, superb, stupendous, fantastic. If I was any better I'd be twins."

Ted, K8AQM, a long-time friend sent the following "…in searching for a card…I came across one that brought some comfort to me and thought perhaps it might put Henry's passing in a proper perspective:

"There are some people
who bring a light so great
to the world that even after
they have gone,
the light remains."

This seems to be Henry. His light will always remain bright to those of us who were lucky enough to have known him. He will be missed K8DD (SK) RIP Stan, AC8W