Silent Keys NEVER FORGOTTEN

Dedicated to our friends, and our Mentors.

PHILLIBERT D GEOFFRION WD9BDW

December 12,1931 - January 16,2010

Phillibert D. Geoffrion, 78, passed away Saturday in St. Anthony M emorial. Survivors include his wife, Joan; sons, Jim Levendoski, Gene (Kay) Levendoski and Tom (Leessa) Levendoski; a sister, Josephine Hendrix; and a brother, Pierre (Patricia) Geoffrion. Phil was a long time member of the Michigan City Amateur Club, and held various offices. He was a supporter of the club's hamfest when it was located at the Michigan City High School, Phil was old school. Back before cell phones club members took shifts monitoring the radio in the event someone needed assistance. Phil took the night shift and even after this service was no longer needed, Phil still had a radio on every night, beside his bed. So when a few locals had a morning rachew at 4am going to work, we kept talking about Phil, knowing he was listening trying to sleep.

CHARLES F ZEESE, AJ9T

June 30,1939 - December 8,2022

He was a lifelong member of St. Stanislaus Kostka parish, where he also attended grade school. He is a 1956 graduate of Elston High School. He proudly served in the United States Navy, Air Antisubmarine Squadron, where he flew more than 500 hours as a radio airman aboard the S2F Trackers out of Quonset Point, RI and aboard the USS WASP Aircraft Carrier in the Mediterranean Sea. Chuck is survived by his loving wife, Elaine; his three children, Mark (Linda) Zeese, Marcy (Bob) Curran and Michael (Pam) Zeese; and nine grandchildren, Kelli, Aaron and Kerry Zeese, Evan, Griffin, Colin and Morgan Curran, and Alexa and Camden Zeese. The oldest of 11 children, Chuck is also survived by five brothers and sisters, Mary Maillet, Karen Self, Mike Zeese, Monica Nowatzke and Robert Zeese. Chuck was life long member of the Michigan City club. He love the hobby, and loved Dxing. Chuck was Mentor and a friend.

DOROTHY I LYLES, KA9PGA

January 11,1922 - August 4,2017

She was born in Chicago, but spent most of her childhood in Michigan City, IN and was a 1939 graduate of I.C. Elston High School. After high school she attended Beloit College, in Beloit, Wisconsin, before marrying Harold Z. Messner (deceased). They had three children: John (deceased), David (Florida), and Mary (Colorado). They also had eight grandchildren (Chloe, Nicholas, Felicity, Adam, Chye, Keir, Loren, and Dylan) and fourteen great-grandchildren. After Harold's death, she married Robert L. Lyles (deceased). Dorothy enjoyed her seven step-children (Kathy (Florida), Dave (Michigan), John (California), Paul (Indiana), Tom (California), Jim Massachusetts, Ruth (Michigan) and thirteen grandchildren.They spent almost forty years together serving their community, camping in the wilderness, and traveling throughout North America. Dorothy worked as a substitute teacher in the Michigan City Area Schools before becoming the director of the Michigan City American Red Cross Chapter. She was active in her church, First Presbyterian Church. She was also deeply involved in her community's social and civic organizations. She tirelessly worked to benefit, promote, and serve the greater Michigan City area. Dorothy was a life time Michigan City club.

David H Spencer, W3RHJ

February 8,1935 - December 19,2021

Spence was born Feb. 8, 1935, in Erie, Pennsylvania, to the late Hugh A. Spencer and Opal G. (Parmenter) Stoffan Spencer-Dunst. Spence married Beth M. Spencer, who passed away on Oct. 28, 2013, after 35 years of marriage.

Spence was a retired veteran who served in the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1956; the U.S. Air Force from 1957 to 1961; and the U.S. Coast Guard from 1962 to 1977, where he received numerous awards for his dedication to the service he was in.

After discharge from the Coast Guard, he worked for the South Shore until 1999. He also enjoyed giving boat tours in Chicago and Munising, Michigan, and operating equipment at the Hesston Steam Museum.

Lee Dunn WB9QPA

Lee was a long time Amateur living in Westville.It has been some time since his passing and we don't recall his call sign and couldn't locate any information on him. Having said that Lee was remembered for volunteering with the NWS.Lee was a long time volunteer for National Weather Service, being Net Control for the local Wet Net. Now before the Interent, Amateurs had mini weather stations at their home which was a rain gauge and a thermometer.Every morning Amateurs would take their readings at report them to the Wet Net. In the winter Amateurs used rulers to measure snow fall. They also would bring their gauges in the house so the snow could melt for the moisture content reports. Lee ran the wet net 365 days a year for about an hour each morning. When the net closed, Lee forwarded that information to the National Weather Service. The data was entered into a database and the NWS then had record of how much rain fell in the reporting areas. Lee was a mentor and a inspiration to many of us. When modern weathers started to become affordable, Amateurs used them and their data was transmitted the NWS in real time. Each weather station was issued it's own ID or call. N9ZIP was one of the first to use this method and was assigned APO-012 for there was own twelve stations across the country at that time. The Wet Net later inspried Weather Nets during storms.

CHUCK BLAIR, K9CBB

October 5 1944 - July 11 2013

Charles Bufford "Chuck" Blair, 68, of Michigan City, Indiana formally of Marianna, Arkansas, passed away Thursday, July 11, 2013. He was born October 5, 1944 in Holly Grove, Arkansas to Kelly Blair and Mayfern Sandling Blair.

Charles is survived by three daughters, Jean Arnold (Mike) of Indiana, Jeannette Blair of Danville, Indiana and Jamie Harrington (Brian) of Indiana; four grandchildren, Randy and Madaline Pitcher and Jessica and Jeanell Long; seven sisters, Joyce Whitson of Nashville, Arkansas, Shirley Shattuck of Nashville, Brenda Baker of Nashville, Pam Blair of Nashville, Kathy Childers of Nashville, Lisa Lopez of Nashville and Becky Walters of Cherokee Village, Arkansas; Charles was preceded in death by his parents, one sister, Betty Blair, three brothers, Kelly B

He was a teamster truck driver, he drove for Yellow trucking for thirty five years. He was a licensed Ham Radioato, K9CBB. He was of the Baptist Faith.