WARO NEWS

APRIL 2000

Hi All,
This year seem to be already flying by. The leaves on the large oak trees on the reserve at the back of my home, are already turning beautiful Autumn colours. I guess it will only be a short time and they will be completly bare we will soon be wondering how long it will be until we have cooler frosty mornings.

The Thelma Souper Memorial Contest was held on 1st and 2nd April with many YLs and OMs taking part. Great to hear the VK girls again this year. Conditions weren't all that good on the Saturday night between ZL and VK. I always enjoy the Thelma Souper Memorial Contest as it is a great way to catch up with many friends on 80 metres who normally can be heard on the higher frequencies.

It is with great sadness that WARO records the passing of Win ZL1BBN. Win became a Silent Key on Saturday 15th April 2000 after a short illness. Win was well known by YLs from many countries. Win had made many lasting friendships through her long association with Amatuer Radio. Win travelled extensively, she had been to many YL Meets the last one YLRL's 60th Anniversary on board the Queen Mary.

The following article was written by Joline ZL1UJB our WARO Bulletin Editor

Dear Folks,
On a warm damp Wednesday morning on April 19, my OM Morris ZL1ANF and I drove to Te Awamutu to attend ZL1BBN Win's funeral. I did not know Win well, our lives had merely glanced together, the way so many of our lives do. And as so often happens when one sits and listens to the eulogies, I listened to what people had to say and discovered too late things about Win which I wished I had known while she was still here with us.

St Andrews Presbyterian church in Te Awamutu is a modern stone church facing east. The north wall is all glass along its full length and for the first two and a half metres of its height. This expanse of glass looks out onto the delightful greens of trees and lawn. There was a moderate wind blowing intermittently during the 3/4 of an hour or so of the eulogy time. As I listened, I watched the autumn leaves detaching themselves and either spiralling slowly down, or being briskly swirled and tossed on their journey to the ground. It seemed so apt a setting for a funeral.

In ZL land there are two kinds of beginnings to a funeral that truly herald the crossing of the threshold between the worlds of life and death, they are the Maori karanga and the Scottish bagpipes. It was the skirl of the bagpipes that stirred and shivered our souls as Win's coffin was led into and out of the church. It was her tartan that lay on the coffin.

The euologies from the family gave us a glimpse of a quite remarkable woman. Afterwards as we were waiting for the hearse to drive off I heard one of the women who had nursed her in her last few days say over and over what a very special woman Win must have been and how she wished she'd had the chance to really get to know her. The funeral had moved her so.

It was this overheard comment that made me reflect on just how remarkable and special women are who become radio hams, and WARO members. And it was at that moment that I celebrated you all. We have all entered a technological world, a world that for many of us was very much a man's world, and for some of us still is very much a man's world. It is our gender that defines us as a minority in our chosen hobby.

Win was very much a woman in a man's world. She was a university student at a time when it was rare for women to go to university. She had four sons and no daughters, making her the only woman in her household. As an accountant, Win entered a man's world at a time when it was men who were accountants not women.

One remark from a member of her family highlighted Win's courageous life journey, and also the experiences of many of us as we venture to cross a hitherto male threshold for the first time.

It was the story of Win's entrance into her first professional gathering of accountants. The man at the door turned Win away with a 'Sorry, but wives aren't allowed.' We may not have experienced it quite so harshly, but that experience of somehow being turned away, of somehow being excluded from a circle or a world solely because of our gender is one many of us have endured.

What WARO means to me, and perhaps what WARO meant to Win, was a warm welcome into a haven in a mainly male world, a sense of belonging. When it came for her time to speak, Biny ZL2AZY WARO President, and close friend of Win, remarked that it was no wonder that WARO was so special to Win, for she her life was lived so much in a man's world. Biny commented on how telling it was that Win, in her latter years of work with overseas secondary school students, took in young women students to care for and nuture. I thought - 'surrogate daughters'.
For Win seems to have sought out and successfully found her own woman's world of female companionship. It is the kind of companionship that most of us seem to need and value highly. Win was also very much a woman with all those mothering, nurturing qualities we tend to think of as womanly attributes. She brought up four sons who very obviously loved her.

The tribute from her grandchildren was incredibly moving. They all gathered round the lectern as one of their number told of a grandmother who was very much a positive part of her grandchildren's lives, actively involved in raising them to be strong good people. As I listened, I wished that I could be a grandmother who meant so much to her grandchildren.

So it was that at her funeral I was deeply touched as I learned how successfully Win ZL1BBN lived a life that spanned both a man's world and a woman's world. I salute her. She was very much one of us. -- Joline ZL1UJB

The following is the Eulogy for Win ZL1BBN read by "WARO President Biny ZL2AZY" at Win's funeral.

"WIN ZL1BBN" - by BINY ZL2AZY
I have been asked to talk about Win and her involvement in ham radio. this is only a brief thumbnail sketch as even I do not know all that she got up to! If you read the notice in the New Zealand Herald, you would have seen the letters ZL1BBN after Win's name. That was the Callsign allocated to Win when she obtained her amateur radio licence, some 36 years ago, but it was earlier than that in 1960 that I first met Win, Jim, Clarrie and Richie - radio hams who came ot Wellington for a NZART Conference there.

We subsequently paid a visit to Hamilton the following year to their radio Conference and so began a wonderful friendship.
We along with other members of my family have known too of Win's warmth, her generosity and her compassion. Win has been associated with Branch 40, Te Awamutu radio Club, way back in its early days. The club has had at least two remarkable events. It came into being prior to even the National body, the New Zealand Amateur Radio Transmitters.

In the 1960's it was unheard of when 4 YLs from this small Club passed their licences, Norma ZL1ANP, Win ZL1BBN, Clarrie ZL1BDZ and Joan ZL1AJC in that order. They were of course able to boost the growing number of women joining the Womens Amateur Radio Organisation in New Zealand and overseas.

Up to 7 years ago, my working life was in Wellington, so my time with Win was not as frequent as I would have liked but we kept regular weekly skeds on air, and we struggled with sending morse to each other in an effort to be proficient.

Many a visit was made to Win and Jim's farm at Ngaroto during holiday time, and the Club barbecues at Rich and Clarrie's at Waikeria were always a highlight and well worth the effort getting there.

We joined in many a Ham Radio Conference together, New Plymouth, Gisborne, Auckland, Whakatane, to name a few and when Win and Jim purchased West End Radio, Friday night get-togethers with fish and chips were very special.

Win in her usual style wanted her sons to obtain their radio licences too and she managed to persuade 3 out of the 4, with Johnny being the first. then came her grandson's turn and yes David and Mathew obtained their licences. This meant the whole family were now able to be involved in providing communication for public events and for International Car Rallies - and Win even extended this opportunity to one of her exchange students. I had grandson Mathew 'lent' to me on one occasion and this was greatly appreciated.

Win was still transmitting reports to Auckland base station from Te Waanga Coast near Raglan as late as last year, and she was always there contributing to National Field Days Contests and Thelma Super Awards.

I guess our most memorable highlights have been the trips we have done together overseas. In 1979 Win visited her brother Alex in Florida and it was on her way home that she passed through Los Angeles. We met her at the airport and she accompanied us to Burbank to stay with Jerrie K6INK and Stoney. It was there that we had our first joint introduction to the Ham radio station W6RO on the Queen Mary and the first time we met Eileen WB6QVD from Long Beach.

These meetings cemented life-time friendships, with both YLs who made reciprocal visits to New Zealand - they were typical of many a get-together which followed either at Win's home in Ngaroto or at Ohaupo.

Our next big venture was in 1989 with a contingent of 12 hams from New Zealand who went to the 50th Convention of the YLRL which took place in Hawaii. This time Jim came along too and it did not take long for both Win and Jim to 'discover' Betty KL7FJW and Ralph Marsh from Alaska, who had sailed their yacht from Alaska to Hawaii but were not about to do it again so they said! As to be expected Betty and Ralph visited New Zealand several years later and Win in her turn was able to visit them in Alaska.

1995 was the year of Win's 75th birthday. Mervyn and I accompanied Win on the first leg of this memorable trip to Vancouver in Canada. Waiting for us there were some equally long time ham friends, Elizabeth VE7YL from Richmond and Vicki VK7DKS who lived on Vancouver Island. Vicki had brought a group to YLs together and they presented Win with a birthday cake, and a small gift albeit a few days early, but that only made her birthday celebrations last longer.

Mervyn, Win and I then flew to Port Hardy on the northern tip of Vancouver Is. and so started a trip up the Inside Passage to Skagway, Alaska and beyong. Betty KL7FJW and Ralph met us at a small community called Ketchican and took us to their remote home on Prince of Wales Island in their yacht, where Win slept. It was whilst touring the island in their pickup during this stay that Win celebrated her 75th birthday.

Alaska gives you wonderful opportunities to do a number of new things - going by ferry from place to place, stopping off at bed and breakfasts in small communities, taking float plain trips, trains and small tour boats. Win did this all, seeing glaciers, whales and wildlife in her travels. She even got the Arctic Circle and Denali National Park.

Win had it all organised to drop off en route from the train to visit with Cheri WL7MA in Wasilla near Anchorage. There have been a number of trips that Win has made inbetween all these events, some on her own and some with groups. Castlemaine and Perth were two get-togethers organised by the Australian YL operators.

Win discovered Jan WB2JCE whilst out on a walk from her brother Alex' home in Florida - she just could not go past that beam! And she visited Arkansas staying with Darleen WD5FQX. I do know that she made New York and New Orleans sometime inbetween all this!

Win's finale was a trip last July/August to the 60th Convention of YLRL. This time not in Hawaii but on the Queen Mary at Long Beach. It was significant that this was 20 years after she first set foot on the ship. This was an auspicious occasion as many of the friends she had met over the years were also there. Betty and Ralph from Alaska, Jerrie K6INK now at Palm Springs, Jan from Florida and Marcia K6DLL and Ted from Sacramenton.
The being together with these long time friends was important for Win and I'm glad that I was there to share the experience with her and to see her enjoy their company.


Jan KJ4N, Win ZL1BBN, Biny ZL2AZY and Betty KL7FJW enjoying themselves on Queen Mary 1999 at YLRL 60th Convention.
(Jan and Betty were sponsored into WARO by Win ZL1BBN)

For Win - ham radio provided the perfect outlet for contact with others. She proved to be a loyal and active supporter of WARO, holding several offices. Market Days saw her right to the fore with displays and when Branch 40 held its 75th Anniversary, she was there with her photographic diplay showing the Club's history, as well as a collection of memorabilia.

One thing Win was not able to finish although she gave time and commitment to it, was the planned International gathering in Hamilton this September of YLs from throughout the world. She took on the task of Treasurer and helped with fundraising. The Organising Committee of Carol ZL2VQ, Catht ZL2ADK, Jill ZL2DBO and Bev ZL1OS will miss her input.

Two months ago Win relinqished her position but not her interest. May I say that Win has shown herself to be a wonderful ambassadress for New Zealand and an example to us all. Clarrie ZL1BDZ, Joan ZL1AJC, Norma ZL1ANP and all the radio amateurs join with me in saying we came to respect Win, to love her dearly and she will not be forgotten.

Win passed away on 13 April 2000, aged 79.