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Former ARRL Chief Operating Officer (COO) Harold Robert Kramer, WJ1B, of Cheshire, Connecticut, passed away on Monday, August 31, 2026, at age 78. Kramer served as COO and QST <\/i>Publisher from 2005 to 2016, following a career in broadcasting. He was an ARRL Life Member and donor, supporting the Diamond Club, the Second Century Campaign, and the ARRL Lab.<\/p>\n
Former ARRL CEO Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, recalled, \u201cWe hired Harold away from Connecticut Public Broadcasting (CPB), not long after doing the same to bring in Mary Hobart (also now SK) as Chief Development Officer. I was told the CPB President wasn’t happy about being ARRL’s farm team!\u201d Sumner referred to Kramer\u2019s 11 years of service to ARRL staff as \u201cone sunspot cycle\u201d on the staff.<\/span><\/p>\n “You’d be hard-pressed to find a friendlier person than Harold Kramer,\u201d said ARRL Lab Manager George Spatta, W1GKS. \u201cHarold continued volunteering at ARRL long after he retired by helping the Lab test donations, and he was very active in the ARRL Historical Committee, where he was passionate about documenting and presenting the history of amateur radio and the equipment used by hams over the decades. Harold will be sorely missed by his good friends in the ARRL Lab.”<\/span><\/p>\n Kramer was also a contributing author to ARRL\u2019s The Parks on the Air\u00ae Book<\/i>. He was active on the air until a couple of months before his passing, and he made some of his final contacts as a Parks on the Air \u201chunter.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, Harold was very active in his hometown of Cheshire, Connecticut, having served as an elected member of the town\u2019s Planning and Zoning Committee and chairing its public library board. He was also a past president of Temple Beth David in Cheshire, which is where his funeral service will take place on Friday, September 4 at 11:30 AM. Burial will follow at Hillside Cemetery. A full obituary may be found at www.fordfh.com\/obituaries\/harold-kramer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n ARRL extends sympathy to Harold\u2019s wife, Karen, daughters Anna and Ruth, and many other relatives and friends.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n