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   PID: Synchronet 3.19c-Win32 master/fb4e4ce96 Oct 25 2022 MSC 1929   
   TID: SBBSecho 3.15-Win32 master/fb4e4ce96 Oct 25 2022 MSC 1929   
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   SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX011   
   ARLX011 Amateur Radio and ARRL Devotee Ellen White, W1YL (SK)   
      
   ZCZC AX11   
   QST de W1AW    
   Special Bulletin 11  ARLX011   
   From ARRL Headquarters    
   Newington CT  November 8, 2022   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB SPCL ARL ARLX011   
   ARLX011 Amateur Radio and ARRL Devotee Ellen White, W1YL (SK)   
      
   Ellen White, W1YL, of Brandon, Florida, passed away on Sunday,   
   November 6, 2022. She was 95. White became a radio amateur in 1946   
   and devoted over 75 years of her life to ham radio, including more   
   than 25 years on the headquarters staff for ARRL, The National   
   Association for Amateur Radio. She retired in 1978 as Deputy   
   Communications Manager and became the editor of the column "How's   
   DX?" for ARRL's membership journal, QST. White was an ARRL Life   
   Member and donor.   
      
   At its meeting in January 1978, the ARRL Board of Directors adopted   
   a resolution recognizing White and her husband Robert (Bob) L.   
   White, W1CW (SK), after having "completed a quarter-century of   
   faithful service to the American Radio Relay League." The resolution   
   cites that Ellen White had "built a reputation for thoroughness and   
   objectivity on a mountain of contest logs," and celebrated her   
   "intelligent and creative work as Deputy Communications Manager."   
      
   White was admired by the worldwide amateur radio community. In 2019,   
   she was the sole US radio amateur to be awarded the Russian E.T.   
   Krenkel Medal, a prestigious award granted to individuals and   
   organizations for outstanding global contributions to amateur radio.   
      
   Director of ARRL's Publications and Editorial Department Becky   
   Schoenfeld, W1BXY, reflected on the news of White's passing. "Ellen   
   was a trailblazing woman in amateur radio. She and I corresponded   
   over the years [before] finally meeting up at Orlando HamCation in   
   2020. Ellen often marveled at how much farther women had come in the   
   ham radio hobby, service, and community since she got her start.   
   Every time I talked to her, I thanked her for paving the way," said   
   Schoenfeld.   
      
   Remembrances for White began arriving at ARRL Headquarters early   
   Monday morning.   
      
   First Class CW Operators' Club (FOC) Membership Secretary Tyler   
   Barnett, N4TY, sent a message to all club members. "Ellen joined FOC   
   in May 1966, and was active in retirement from her Florida contest   
   station, and most recently remote via the W7RN Comstock Memorial   
   station. This is a very sad day. She will be missed on the air, and   
   at the Florida dinners." Barnett said White was FOC member #875.   
      
   White was also referred to as the "founding grandmother" of the   
   Florida Contest Group (FCG). President Chris Plumblee, W4WF, added,   
   "It is fitting, in a few ways, that Ellen passed away during SS   
   [ARRL Sweepstakes] CW, a contest that she administered for years   
   while she worked at the ARRL."   
      
   White had already learned Morse code in high school, and only rarely   
   operated any other mode. "Ellen loved CW, contesting, and DXing,"   
   said Rosalie White, K1STO (no relation), former ARRL Field And   
   Educational Services Manager, who was hired by Ellen White to work   
   for ARRL in 1973. "Ellen and I got a lot of hams asking, 'Are you   
   Ellen's daughter?' or 'Are you Rosalie's mother?'" said Rosalie   
   White. "We always replied, 'No, but that would've been cool.'"   
   Rosalie White is now an ARISS-International US Delegate representing   
   ARRL.   
      
   Rosalie White recounted that in the 1940s, Ellen and Bob White   
   earned First Class Radiotelephone and Second Class Radiotelegraph   
   commercial licenses. "She [Ellen White], being a maverick, also took   
   the Class B FCC Amateur Radio test to become W2RBU, and promptly   
   joined ARRL. Radio broadcast station KPOA based in Oahu, Hawaii,   
   hired her (then KH6QI) as station engineer in the day when it was   
   unheard of for a woman. She and Bob then headed to San Diego,   
   California, where she took another radio broadcast engineer job, and   
   also ran for and became ARRL San Diego Section Communications   
   Manager (now called Section Manager). This was prior to their   
   applying for jobs (at ARRL) in Newington in 1947."   
      
   The article "A Conversation with Ellen White, W1YL," by Rosalie   
   White appeared in the May/June 2015 issue of NCJ, published by ARRL.   
   That article can be found at,   
   https://ncjweb.com/features/mayjun15feat.pdf .   
      
   Eric Guth, 4Z1UG, of the QSO Today Amateur Radio Podcast, introduced   
   Ellen White as the "Grande Dame" of amateur radio in an interview   
   recorded on April 27, 2016.  The interview can be found at,   
   https://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/w1yl .   
      
   Ellen White was preceded in death by her husband Bob in 2003, and   
   her son Jim White, K4OJ (SK), in 2004.   
   NNNN   
   /EX   
   --- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32   
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