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Harry D. Vorhauer
Harry D. Vorhauer
Obituary
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Harry Vorhauer Obituary
This obituary was originally published in the News & Messenger (Woodbridge, VA).
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Vi (Vorhauer) Hedrick
December 20, 2023
Love you always Daddy!
Daughter, Vi
December 20, 2022
Love Always
Vi Hedrick
December 20, 2021
Loving you and missing you always!
Vi
Viola R Hedrick
December 20, 2020
Loving you and missing you Daddy.
Vi
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Vi Hedrick
May 25, 2019
Missing you Daddy
patrick boland
October 29, 2009
i will miss harry i hope one day i will see him.in heaven and talk ham radio patrick boland ke4buo
Steve Vorhauer
October 28, 2009
Hey Grandpa,
I sure do miss you! I have been thinking about you a lot lately. I have had some pleasant dreams lately about being back at your house in Manassas. I loved your backyard and many of my best childhood memories are those spent with you and Grandma at that house. Us Grandkids still talk about you all the time. Thanks for being a "GREAT" Grandfather.
patrick boland
May 28, 2009
patrickboland ke4buo i miss you a lot harry.i hope to see you in heaven
Vi Hedrick
April 7, 2009
Mom and the rest of us have not forgotten you. That will never happen, Daddy. We still love you, think of you and talk about you. Love, Vi
Kathy Dudley
April 6, 2009
I am very sorry for the loss of your father and good friend.
I believe Harry's mother Gladys Barber Vorhauer was my great aunt. I hope someone in the family will contact me.
Kathy Dudley
April 5, 2009
I'm sorry I forgot to leave my contact info.
[email protected]
Vi Hedrick
May 2, 2007
Daddy, I think of you all the time and miss you all the time.
Love Vi
Georgia Downing
September 28, 2006
Daddy I love and miss you. I remember when we lived in Chincoteague and you had the TV repair shop and spending time with you. I miss you so.
Vi Hedrick
September 26, 2006
I love and miss you Daddy.
Ron Everett
February 2, 2005
Harry, W4PVA, was a very good friend and a fellow VEC when I lived in Manassas as a member of the Ole Virginia Ham club (ex-NV3S, now W5RAE). We miss you Harry.
Mark Trbovich
February 2, 2005
Friends,
As a young Test Technician starting at Melpar in 1981, Harry immediately started to mentor me in RF Filter design and testing. His knowledge seemed unending and he always was willing to share it. He shared it with so many of us until he retired. That is what I will always remember about Harry....He was a teacher and truly enjoyed it! Many young Test Engineers he worked with are still here today. Harry was one of a kind...so open to share his vast knowledge of RF and Ham Radio.
My prayers and are with the family. God Bless you and Thank You Harry! for helping/teaching a young man so long ago.
Mark Trbovich Test Manager
Raytheon Company Falls Church VA
Jack Lloyd
January 26, 2005
I had the pleasure of working with Harry for about his last 15 years at Melpar/E-Systems. He was not only an ingenious designer but a great teacher and a friend that I was glad to have met. We still work and repair some of the products he designed in the 70's. My prayers are with his family.
Becky Thomasson(Gray)
January 18, 2005
I was sorry to hear of Harry's passing. My dad - Bill Gray (K4KOX) worked at Melpar in the 60's and was a member of the Ole Virginia Hams,also. I remember going to field days and lots of activities with the hams. I used to run around with Georgia V. and the Pickett girls. My condolences to the family. Becky (Gray) Thomasson
Lawrence Lankston
January 5, 2005
Our thoughts are with Harry's Family. We visited with Harry and his family many times during the late 50's and early 60's.
Larry & Carol Lankston
W0PEV & W0PEU
Harry Glessner
December 28, 2004
I will always remeber Harry as the first and only bicycle mobile I have ever known and how Harry traveled locally mostly on his bicycle. A great help when I became an officer of OVH. Calm, cool, collected. I am sure the current family of OVH will miss Harry a lot.
WA4CUU
Charlie Dale
December 27, 2004
I will always remember Harry for his low key approach and helpful ways. W4PVA you will be missed.
Edward Whitney
December 27, 2004
I visited Harry several times with my son Larry KA4CTX, and always enjoyed talking with him as he was so knowledgeable on electronics and a very pleasant person to know. I know that he will be greatly missed by all.
ED. KZ7Z
Lisa Wikfors
December 27, 2004
Harry, you will be missed.
KF4FJD-Lisa
Karl Berger
December 27, 2004
My deepest sympathy for Harry's family.
Lawrence Whitney
December 27, 2004
Remembering Harry W4PVA (Pretty Virginia Apples),
Harry and I worked at the same company known as Melpar. Of course he started before me. I came aboard in the late sixty’s, part time. I remember an older gentleman that had a magnifying visor on his head all the time with some sort of device in his hand and very intent on either getting it to work or talking about it. It wasn’t until later in the mid to late seventy’s that I developed a real interest in Ham Radio, my Dad had moved out of state and we thought that would be a real neat way to communicate. My Dad had had radio training and had done intercept work for the US Army during WWII.
I had left the company and came back as a lot of people had done before me. I had taught myself CW, which came relatively easy to me, but the technical end was a different story. I can’t remember how we hooked up and started talking about radio, but Harry seemed to take a liking to me and he started tutoring me for my Novice license. He gave me the test and I passed. When I got my license in the mail I was the happiest person in the world that day, KA4CTX. I never wanted to lose that call sign as it meant so much to me.
My interest began to grow and Harry was so willing to teach me radio and the things I needed to know to get my General license. During lunch hour, every day I’d seek out Harry and he would begin the lesson. He taught radio in very simple terms. I was asking so many questions and he would patiently answer them all.
Harry and I grew together and he helped me gain the Amateur Extra License through his help, in the early eighty’s. His understanding problems in a simplistic way helped me in life and my job. If I needed advice on antenna construction or a re-understanding of simple circuit designs, he was there.
As the years wore on Harry and I went our separate ways and I left Ham Radio for a while. Only later to get into it in a bigger way. When I did come back Harry was there. He got me involved in public service events and we still talked about antennas.
As the demands of my job became more evident I left Ham Radio again, not having the time and always on travel. Only this time when I come back to Ham Radio, I won’t have Harry to help me. I’ll have to reach back in time and memory of the things he taught me.
Bye, Harry……
Steve and Jan Frick
December 26, 2004
We will surely miss Harry W4PVA "The Voice of Manassas"who was net control for The Ole Virginia Hams Amateur Radio Club on Thursday night for many years. He ran the net and set the high-water mark we all strive for today. Harry was innovative, operating as bicycle-mobile and doggy-mobile, with Copper carrying the antenna during walks with Vi, his wife who put up with all the equipment and his time spent pursuing the hobby and assisting with emergency communications. He "Elmer"ed so many, assisting and encouraging new Hams in the area.
Harry was one of the founders of the club and was very active, always ready to help any way he could, with any resources he had, could lay his hands on, or could create!
We enjoyed his many stories and presentations to the club. We learned so much from him.
Harry will be missed by us and the Amateur Radio community and all the lives he has touched, but we will see him again one day.
73 de N4OGR and KE4TMW
Keith Bennington
December 26, 2004
Harry was a very active member of the community. Always willing to help. He will be greatly missed.
Alan McCormick, WA2GTT
December 26, 2004
Harry will be missed. He was the first ham I met when I moved to Manassas 20 years ago. He was always willing to help any and all! >> I bought his HQ-180 receiver from him just before he moved out of the house and use it often. It was special when I bought it from him and will be even more-so now.
Al Picard (W4ALP)
December 26, 2004
Harry (W4 Pretty Virginia Apples) will be sorely missed by those of us that were fortunate to know him. His soft spoken manner and untiring effort he gave to advancing amature radio will be long remembered.
Donald Blasdell
December 26, 2004
Harry W4PVA was a great friend to not only the Area Amateur community but to the Ole Virginia Ham club.
Butch W4HJL
Ruth Frock
December 26, 2004
I was very saddened to hear about Harry's passing. He was an inspriration to me both as a an amateur radio operator and as a person. We all will miss him.
Donald & Mary Blasdell
December 26, 2004
Butch and I have many memories of Harry and he gave me my test for "general" and teased me that I didn't pass - Mary Lu/KB4EFP
Bill South
December 26, 2004
I was interested in ham radio for many years before I moved to Manassas some 17 years ago. I first met Harry Vorhauer at OVH's Manassas Hamfest in the summer of 1988. I saw him walking around with his little dog, and a little antenna on the dog's small pack he carried. Harry struck up a conversation with me when he saw me reading a notice about an upcoming ham radio testing session (I wasn't yet licensed, but very interested in the hobby). He persuaded me to take the test, and the following month I showed up at the OVH license testing session. He welcomed me, remembering me from our conversation at the Hamfest. Well I was going there to test for Novice only; I aced the written for Novice, and was quite happy. But Harry told me...actually prodded me...to pay the $5 and try the Technician test. Well I hadn't studied at all for it and was sure I would fail, but his manner was so assuring that I decided to give it a try. To my amazement I passed...just barely, but I passed. Well I could hardly contain my joy, as I knew that if I passed the 5 word-per-minute Morse Code test, I would be a Technician and get voice privileges...I could work the 2 meter repeater, and better yet, 10 meter SSB phone...I was elated.
I was very, very, nervous at taking the CW test, now that it meant much more to me than it might have otherwise, but in his calm and reassuring manner, Harry told me to relax and not get flustered. If I missed a character, don't fret about it, but move on to the next. Well I took the 5 WPM test and was deflated...I was sure I didn't pass. And my first worst fears were born out, Harry had to tell me that I didn't get enough questions correct. I was crestfallen, but he reassured me that it wasn't the end of the world, and if I studied I would pass with no problem at the next session...6 months away!
I was sitting deflated, having gone from such a high in passing both written tests, only to fail the CW. I wasn't surprised, CW was VERY tough for me. However as I was about to leave, Harry came over to me and said that he had rechecked my CW test, and although I still didn't get enough questions correct, I had gotten 1 minute of perfect copy...by one prosign! The testers had originally rejected the 1 minute of copy because I was one character short. But Harry persuaded the others to recheck as he had, and because the last character was a prosign (a period as I recall) it counted as 2 characters. By the narrowest of margins I had passes, but passed none the less.
Needless to say if it hadn't been for Harry's concern, thoroughness and attention to detail (like the fine engineer he was), I wouldn't have passed the test, and I would have missed out on many months of enjoyment of the ham hobby.
I never really had a ham "Elmer", some ham who takes a perspective ham under his wing and guides him along to getting his license, but I have always, and will always, consider Harry my Elmer.
Thanks Harry Vorhauer, W4PVA, for helping me get my ham license, and for being such a fine example of what is good and right about this hobby...
You will be missed...73, de Bill South, N3OH (ex. N4WJN)
Walt Short
December 26, 2004
Nancy and I have fond memories of Harry and we have been kept up to date on all he has been doing for the Old Virginia Hams Club.
May God Bless Harry
Ken Coghill III, WB4ZOH
December 26, 2004
A wonderful voice has been stilled but his memory will never fade. I count myself most fortunate to have known Harry.
Charles & Joanne Souter
December 26, 2004
Harry, you were one of the founders of the Old Virginia Hams and
you will be missed.... May God Bless and watch over you...
John Heartney
December 26, 2004
We will miss Harry. John KG4NXT, Theresa KG4TVM, Elizabeth KG4NXV
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8521 Sudley Road, Manassas, VA 20109
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