Donald V. Tanguay, N1DT

It is with great regret that we announce the passing of SEMARA member Donald V. Tanguay, N1DT aged 76, of New Bedford, MA.  Don passed away on Thursday, April 26, 2012 at Saint Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford.  Don activated over 70 lighthouses in MA and RI together with Whitey, K1VV for the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society between 2003 and 2008.  His obituary as it appeared in The Standard-Times can be seen by clicking here.  We send our sympathy to his family for their loss.  May he rest in peace.

N1DT, SK

Don’s close friend Whitey passed along the following message to SEMARA members:

Don N1DT passed away April 26th…. he had been in failing health for several years …

Don was a first class CW operator. He learned CW when in the US Air Force working as an intercept operator for the NSA. He was stationed at a number of security monitoring stations in Turkey, on the island of Crete and England, monitoring CW transmissions in Russia and Eastern Block Communist Countries during the cold war. He never send sent CW, only copied it on a mill up to 35 WPM. He did not
get his ham ticket until several years after he was discharged from the US Air Force. You could say he was a “spook”. He held
an Extra Class ham ticket. While he was a Novice he operated mobile CW with a Yaesu FT-7, 10 watts, and worked all states
from his car !!!!!!!

Don and I activated over 70 lighthouses in Mass and RI together for the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society from 2003, with our first at Ned’s Point Light in Mattapoiset MA , and the last in 2008. After that date Don’s health went down and he could no longer go out to the lights with me. We had many fun times together going out to the lights, first stopping at Dunkin Donuts, and then at times traveling up to 120 miles
one way as we did when we went to Race Point Light out at the tip of Cape Cod.

Don was a true friend, if you have one like him in a life time you are very lucky. I could not have had a better radio lighthouse partner, a
fishing buddy, he always caught more fish than me and would kid me about it, and I could not have had a better “real” friend.

To say that he will be missed is an understatement …

R.I..P. Don N1DT

73 Whitey K1Vv / W1AA