I’m sad to report that we were informed that Leslie Johnson WA4EEZ became a silent key last week. Leslie was a club board member in 2005 and was later that year voted in as VP when the president resigned and positions were adjusted. She served as VP in 2006 and then served as club President in 2007 & 2008, after which she was given the President Emeritus title. In 2013, Leslie completed the impressive Worked All Counties award, working all 3,077 counties in the US. Leslie enjoyed contesting, particularly RTTY and I often saw her callsign on FT8. She was my first local HF contact just a few days after I got my license. She also ran the net on 6 meters. She will be missed.

Here is Leslie’s bio that she wrote for the SPARC Gap newsletter in March 2008:

I was first licensed in December, 1961–got my Novice and Technician at the same time…I had fun building my Novice rig: Heathkit HX-11. Wonder of wonders, it worked well!! Immediately got on 6 Meters with a Clegg 99’er (8 watts) and enjoyed the many 6 Meter openings at the time…and before long, the contest bug bit, and I entered the 1963 CQ World Wide VHF Contest…came in first in the Florida section…no computers in those days, and I recall spending many, many hours getting that log prepared for submission!

Got my General in 1977..13 wpm code and all, at the Orlando Hamfest that year…I automatically tried to adjust the key, and it all fell apart…talk about embarrassment and stress!! Fortunately, the examiner was a cool dude, and I got back on track! Had a long layoff from ham radio from about 1978 until 1999 (too busy working!!)…then Jim, W4APV talked my OM Roger(K4SHI) into setting up a station again, I heard HC8N on 10m, worked him, and I was off to the races.

My main radio enjoyment comes from rag-chewing and paper-chasing…also enjoy working towards many different awards, and my casual contesting contributes nicely to that! I had set a goal when I started back up in 1999, to get my basic DXCC by the end of 2000..finished it up on time Dec 18, 2000 (all 10m phone). Still working on it, of course!!

The modes I use are SSB, RTTY, PSK, Hellschreiber( HELL), and a little CW…

From David KR4U:

I met Leslie and Roger around 1999 or 2000 at the SPARC Club meetings at the American Red Cross in Saint Petersburg. She was quite active in the 10-10 organization in which I also enjoyed so we had some common ground from the start. In August 2002 a SPARC member, N9MIU Mark, suggested a possible DXpedition to Egmont Key to put the island and lighthouse on the air. After weeks of administrative red tape, we were finally allowed an overnight stay on the island. On November 9 and 10, 2002 13 SPARC members including Leslie and Roger put Egmont on the air, made many contacts and had a great time. Also in 2002 I started using a new mode called PSK-31. My good friend Ron Hall KP2N (SK) and I put on a demonstration.at a club meeting and Leslie was very interested and wanted to get on the new mode. I helped her along and we both ended up joining the 070 PSK-31 Club which has many events and contests throughout the year. We worked many events and had a great time competing against each other. In around 2004 SPARC had a very active contest group and Leslie liked to work SSB, had a great time, and attracted lots of QSO’s. KP2N and I got Leslie started on RTTY and she instantly fell in love with that mode, it became her all-time favorite contesting mode. We helped her get setup on her home station and I helped her get up on WriteLog contesting software. She was very applicative of any help we could give her. My XYL Veronika, KC4YAW, and Leslie spent many all-night chatting sessions during SPARC field days at Bay Pines. We both miss her after a better that 20-year friendship.

David KR4U and Veronika KC4YAW

Leslie Johnson WA4EEZ SK

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