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W6VHU > ARRL 22.07.98 09:03l 78 Lines 3667 Bytes #-10187 (0) @ WW
BID : ARL_V17.28D
Read: DJ7XU DG3LRL GUEST
Subj: ARRL Letter V17 28D
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The ARRL Letter Online
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[D]
Volume 17, Number 28 (July 17, 1998)
YLRL PIONEER ETHEL SMITH, K4LMB, LEAVES ESTATE TO ARRL The
ARRL has received the largest single contribution in its history
from the estate of YLRL pioneer Ethel M. Smith, K4LMB, who died
in February of 1997. The ARRL's audited financial statements for
last year record the value of her bequest as more than $800,000.
Smith, a native of Washington, came to national prominence
early in her Amateur Radio career through a letter printed in
QST. First licensed in 1936 as W7FWB, she saw a need for an
organization to nurture and encourage female hams and wrote to
QST to promote the idea. Ultimately, she helped to found the
Young Ladies Radio League (YLRL) and became its first president
in 1939.
As ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, points
out in his August QST "It Seems to Us . . ." editorial: "This
began a distinguished record of six decades of service to the
Amateur Radio community, particularly in the Washington, DC,
area, which became her home in the 1940s. The ARRL, the
Foundation for Amateur Radio, and the Quarter Century Wireless
Association are but of a few of the many other organizations to
benefit from her boundless energy. The day she died, February 5,
1997, was a day of profound sadness for all who knew her."
Smith participated in the formation of the Foundation for
Amateur Radio (FAR) in 1957. Around that same time, she met and
married the late John "Tex" De Bardeleben, W4TE (ex-W3CN), who
was with the FCC. The couple set up housekeeping in Virginia, and
she later served as the Virginia SEC (1966-69) and as an ARRL
assistant director under four different Roanoke Division
directors. She also served the QCWA as its general manager and on
its board of directors. In August 1996, six months after her 79th
birthAround that same time, she met and married the late John
"Tex" De Bardeleben, W4TE (ex-W3CN),
Ethel Smith felt indebted to what Amateur Radio had meant in
her life. As she once explained it: "Amateur Radio is still the
main focus of my life. It has brought me all the good things that
ever happened to me. It gave me a challenging and rewarding
career. It gave me a wonderful husband and the greatest
collection of friends in the world--all over the world. I owe
more to Amateur Radio than I can ever possibly repay."
In 1986, with the stipulation that there be no publicity
during her lifetime, she contributed $10,000 to the ARRL to
create the ARRL Exceptional Merit Stipend (EMS Fund). That the
fund's abbreviation and her initials were the same was a secret
that gave her a measure of private satisfaction. After her
husband died, she contributed another $10,000 in 1995 and
arranged for her entire estate to pass to the ARRL.
For some additional insights into the lives and legacies of
both Ethel Smith, K4LMB, and the late Barry Goldwater, K7UGA, see
K1ZZ's editorial, "Two Who Made a Difference," on page 9 of the
August 1998 QST.
[Editor's note: A few copies of the March/April 1997 issue of
YL Harmonics, which was dedicated to the memory of Ethel Smith,
K4LMB, still are available from the YLRL. Contact Barbara Yasson,
KC7KQI, 12308 NE 5th Ave, Vancouver, WA 98685; e-mail
byasson@pacifier.com by July 31. --thanks to Margaret Dunn,
KC7LXS]
[Continued in Part E]
[ Received via HF CLOVER at W0RLI]
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