News & Events

Henry C. Schmidling, the founder and president of SCRAN, passed away Wednesday December 20, 2000 at his fathers home in Hawaii.

There will be a temporary change to the repeater ID. We will be applying for Henry's callsign, WA6RJA, as the SCRAN club callsign so that it may remain on the repeater. For legal reasons we are adding KA6TSA to the id message as well while the applications are filed.

Henry was an incredible man. The first Special Olympics that I worked, Henry had just had surgery and was obviously in pain. In spite of that he still got there very early in the morning, managed to get to the control station and worked the whole weekend. Over the years I watched him do this over and over. If there was a way that he could help someone he would be there, whether it was a large event like Special Olympics or just a friend with a minor problem. Many times he would call, find out I was working on my truck and be out the door to help me within a few minutes even if I told him I could handle the problem. How he felt would not stop him. In spite of all his problems he once told me that he considered himself lucky.

He became part of my family and my best friend. Though I have always known how I felt about him, I didn’t realize till now that everyone felt the same way. I have heard many people say that he was part of their family too. He was Uncle Henry to a lot of kids, not just my own. Somehow there was something unique about him, he became a part of everyone that knew him.

Some of the things that Henry left with us are built out of transistors and wires, others are in us. Since none of them are built out of stone they will need care. It is my hope that everyone can look at what Henry left with them and help it to grow. I think that if we could all follow his example the world would be a better place.

I am sure that many of you would like to say something as well. If anyone wishes to write up something and email it to me at ke6tnm@scran.org I will post it here.

****************************************************************************************************

Our beloved Friend has gone away
Life's joy is dimmer today

His station silent and cold in the night,
Dearest One, his soul took flight

Remember I the laughs we shared,
Whenever needed you were there.

Now you've gone silent key,
Death has taken you away from me.

I send with my prayers a "73",
Your voice ever silent, no more to be.

******************************************************************************************************************

HENRY, A FRIEND

I sit here still in disbelief that my friend Henry is no longer with us. His live was not exceptionally joyous what with his trips to the VA three timed a week just to maintain his life. But I marvel at the fact that he never complained & that smile of his never came off his face.

He made me feel special when he would ask me to help him with a project that required my particular knowledge, as he would do for any of us that needed his. There are so few people in this world that I could honestly consider a friend. They are worth their weight in gold & the longer I live the shorter that list becomes.

I especially feel badly for those who leave well before their expected time & most of all the ones that are so much younger than myself. But then they say the good leave us early for they are needed in heaven. And Henry was a very good man.

********************************************************************************************************************

I’ve been a member of SCRAN for probably 20 years and have always thought of Henry (my father’s name) as a dear friend, mentor, and all-around great human being. I especially remember the times Henry would join Tall Bill, Giuseppe and myself on the repeater during the early morning commute. What an awful time to be up and at it!

I regret that I’ve not been a very active member of SCRAN in its many events, and am looking forward to being able to participate more after my pending retirement from teaching. Henry will not know that...... or maybe he will from that great QTH In The Sky!

*********************************************************************************************************************

Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell,
And he rang mine.
We were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow," I say "I will call on Jim"
"Just to show that I'm thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner!--yet miles away,
"Here's a telegram sir"
"Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.

Wayne Fitzer (N6WF)

******************************************************************************************************************