Matt N7EG SK

Lat night, Dave W7AQK let me know our mutual friend, Matt, N7EG, passed away last week.

I have known Matt for several years since he had his former call signs of KA7PKG and then K7PEG. He often called me on 40m with his swinging bug early in the evening in our time. He used old Atlas transceivers with a bit of chirp and drift, which have improved later. Like his keying with the old bug, he always made witty jokes and quit soon. I loved his way of operation so much.

Once, when I saw him sitting at his shack on the photo in QRZ.com, I told him he looked like an old prophet in the bible days. He liked that saying very much. I was surprised to find an Astatic mic standing on the table. I was sure he would had been a CW only operator. He told me he had been involved in the emergency communication net on SSB. Later, I knew he had been on some other net on 40m, where he talked to friends of mine as well.

I was surprised to hear that he had been working as a volunteer counsellor at a hospital there. Since he was a veteran from WWII and suffered from alcoholism, he has worked for those with alcoholism mostly due to their service in Iraq etc. It seemed his life work. I have not expected such an activity in his career which looked quite different from his way of operation on CW. Dave told me he had been kind and generous to the others all the time. At this time I heard of his volunteer work, I have respected him not only for a proficient CW operator but also as a human being.

He seemed to be 90 years old. It was a great loss for us that he passed away and his key went silent. However, he might have lived a great life for himself as well as for the people around him.

Rest in peace, my friend.