Biography

This web site is dedicated to the memory of the late John "Kelly "
J. Petrokonis ( KB3WW )

John was born on September 22, 1926 in Plymouth Pennsylvania. He married his wife Nancy on May 1956. Over the next 40 years he had 4 children and worked as a rate clerk for the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. After relocating several times John and Nancy decided on Mayfield, Pennsylvania. John always had a love of radio. After watching the "CB band " go down hill he decided to get into ham radio. John went up through the ranks of amateur radio all the way to advanced and was issued the call KB3WW. I met John in the fall of '94 and I thought of him as just another grumpy old man who didn't like beginners in the amateur radio hobby. He referred to them as appliance operators. As time passed, I would hear John on the local repeaters giving directions to amateurs that were lost. He would follow them to different repeaters to be sure they got to where they were going. In time, I realized that John wasn't so bad after all. I spent alot of time talking to John on the two meter and 220 mhz bands and would often talk him late at night. I was also fortunate enough to be invited several times to join him for drinks at his second home The Windsor Inn . John had a very interesting outlook on life and after a while I realized that we had alot in common. I think that I got to know him pretty well and among his favorite things were radios, alcohol, and looking at beautiful women. John taught me alot about life and people. Anytime you asked him how he was doing he would say " I woke up alive this morning so I'm doing good ". This he did until January 3, 1996 when he suffered a stroke and passed away on January 14, 1996. Even in death he inspired me to upgrade my amateur radio license to the class of advanced so I could inherit his amateur radio callsign. I still think about John often and I found out just how many friends he really had when I put the call KB3WW on my repeater. Sometimes late at night I can still hear John calling.

Well Kelly, if you're listening and I know you are, you are missed very much and thanks for everything 73 & 88 my friend......