We are saddened to report this week on the passing of four well-known amateurs, including two members of the extended “ARRL family.”
Longtime ARRL Rhode Island Section Manager Robert George “Bob” Beaudet, W1YRC, became a Silent Key on September 10, 2026, at age 88. An ARRL Life Member, Gold-Level Diamond Club member, and Maxim Society member in the President Class, Beaudet served as Rhode Island Section Manager from 2002 to 2023. In 2020, the ARRL Board of Directors recognized his contributions to the Field Organization with the Knight Distinguished Service Award. An ARRL Volunteer Examiner, Bob took part in over 340 license exam sessions, and was a long-serving member of the DX Advisory Committee. Just a week before his passing, the nursing home where he’d lived since 2025 reported on Facebook about a carefully-organized “jailbreak” in late July, in which Bob was able to briefly return home and once again take to the airwaves as W1YRC, joining a Wednesday night net with more than 40 other Rhode Island hams. Current Rhode Island Section Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, noted in an email that “amateur radio in Rhode Island owes a lot to Bob.” Read the full obituary.
Perry T. Green, WY1O, of Winsted, Connecticut, is also now a Silent Key. A U.S. Army Veteran, he passed away on September 14, 2026, at age 79. Perry was on the ARRL Headquarters staff from 2002 to 2017. He was Assistant Manager of the ARRL VEC Department and had served as a member of the Question Pool Committee for the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators. ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, recalled that “Perry had a special gift for connecting with people. He built lasting personal relationships with many of our Volunteer Examiners and customers and … made people feel welcome and appreciated.” Somma added that Green’s “dedication, kindness, and ability to connect with others made him a valued colleague and important part of the ARRL VEC team.” An obituary is available.
Charles “Uncle Chuck” Lee Wyrick, N1UC, of Stuarts Draft, Virginia, became a Silent Key on September 1, 2026, at age 82. An ARRL member, he was a longtime employee of Ham Radio Outlet (HRO), joining the staff there in 1989. He was the company’s National Operations Manager from 2007 until his retirement in 2017. According to the HRO website, Wyrick was responsible for bringing the company “into the 21st century” by implementing a networked point-of-sale application which connected all HRO stores and allowed sharing of sales and inventory control data among all locations. Chuck was also an active satellite operator and was a control operator of the AO-27 satellite. Read the full obituary.
Doug Hendricks, KI6DS, passed away on September 18, 2026. A co-founder of the NorCal QRP Club and founder/owner of Hendricks QRP Kits, he helped start and fuel the popularity of kit-building among QRP (low power) enthusiasts. Hendricks was also a long-time master of ceremonies for the OzarkCon QRP conference and a regular presenter at Four Days in May, the QRP gathering that precedes the Dayton Hamvention® each year. Off the ham bands, Doug taught science and math, and coached basketball, at Dos Palos High School in California, where he was responsible for more than 300 victories and the school’s first-ever league championship.
ARRL sends condolences to the families and friends of these four leaders of the amateur radio community.