What happens when you mix “motorcycle gang looks” with ham radio? You get Johnny Lenville, KI1A. Johnny passed away recently at an early 53 years old. Back around 16 years ago he was very active in the HCRA. Johnny took on a mentor/Elmer status helping others to understand electronics. He helped teach ham classes and helped the students to understand electronics. He helped my son Jacob, KB1NSN pass his general.
For a year around 14-15 years ago, Johnny was president of the HCRA. It was a fun year as he was always happy and willing to get involved and lend a hand to anyone that needed assistance.
As his life changed he drifted away from ham radio and other than the occasional comment on Facebook, I lost touch with him. Then the year before Covid, he started attending HCRA meetings again and was getting on the air. I remember him saying he bought a Xiegu radio, portable antenna, and battery and would sit on his deck and operate outside and have a blast making contacts. Then Covid hit and I lost touch with him again. I heard last summer he had a heart attack and had bypass surgery with complications. Unfortunately in mid January 2023, he became a silent key. I will miss him as he was a good guy with a good sense of humor and was always enjoyable to be around.
73 Johnny,
Larry, W1AST