John Donald Wightman, ZL1AH, July 2017

I am sad to pass on news from New Zealand that RSGB member John Wightman, ZL1AH has died. He was a very long time member of the RSGB, over 80 years I think. He was aged 97.

In 1969 I was a pupil in his class and he made a special effort for us during the first manned moon landing, setting up receiving equipment to listen directly to what was, for the southern hemisphere, a daytime event. It was he that got me interested in amateur radio initially, even though it was decades later that I got a first license as TF3XXT.

I visited John a couple of times when visiting NZ. He was a CW-only operator, and I remember his shocked reaction when I asked where his microphone was when he showed me his new rig during one visit.

The Bay of Plenty Times in Tauranga, New Zealand, where John lived, includes a more detailed obituary and a photograph. The doctor mentioned in the article, Ross Ogle, was in the same class year as me.

Tribute by Geoff Crowley, MM5AHO

Category: Silent Keys