Dave Knight W4ZJY – Silent Key

It is with sadness that we report the passing of Dave Knight, W4ZJY. Dave was a life member of the ARRL, former member of our club, and was extremely active on the air. His call sign regularly appeared in QST magazine in the “Field Organization Reports” His call appears twice on page 101 of the August 2009 issue. He did a lot of CW work, so he truly is a “silent key”.

The graveside service and burial were in Cookeville, Tennessee, on Monday, August 10.

His obituary was in Sunday’s Decatur Daily .  SK information has been forwarded to the ARRL.
Club member Bill Blackburn W4ZLU sent this rememberance:

David and I went thru High School together and played in a country band together (Phiffer Ridge Runners). We took the Ham test together in 1953 and both of us passed the Novice however I was the dumb one and failed the General test once. He of course passed his. This is the time the test was given only every 3 months in Nashivlle and you had to send and receive 13 wpm. Then after about 6 weeks you received a license or failure notice in the mail. It was quite a bus ride from Cookeville.

After school I went into the Navy and he later went to the Air Force. After almost 40 years we ended up two blocks from each other.

His “fist” will be sorely missed on the air.

Richard Matthews

Author: KB4CAY

Ham since 1981. Secretary of Decatur Amateur Radio Club since 2001. I like digital modes and listening to local repeaters.

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