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 Previous: Chiao to Sub for McArthur as Next ISS Commander |  Next: Auction of AO-40 Sculpture to Help Fund AMSAT ECHO Satellite Launch |
By John J. Cline, K7BDS
January 15, 2004
What can a centenarian and a young boy--strangers in almost every way--share that draws them together in a bond of friendship? Amateur Radio, of course.
 Neva Heckman, KC7MWB, operates on 2 meters from her home in Boise, Idaho. She's a regular on a number of nets and until recently regularly attended RACES meetings. [Paul Rhines, KB7REX, Photo] |
This is a true story of a bridge across time, an event that briefly brought together two people who likely would not otherwise have met, people separated by more than nine decades of life. The vehicle that brought them together was Amateur Radio and the place was Boise, Idaho.
Neva Heckman was born on April 10, 1903 into a world filled with the awe and wonderment of new discoveries. The United States was just getting ready to celebrate its 128th birthday. President Theodore Roosevelt would send the first message across the "Pacific Cable" interlocking San Francisco and Manila together in a new age of information-sharing and technology. Helium was discovered that year. Marconi was having great difficulty convincing the world's scientific community that his experiments with transmitting radio signals really did have a practical application.
Isaiah Livingston was born January 2, 1995, the cusp of
the Internet revolution. Talking to Manila had been reduced to the mundane: one
merely had to activate a cellular telephone or connect on-line by computer to
an international chatroom. The year of Isaiah's birth was also the year that
Neva Heckman got her Amateur Radio license.
 Isaiah Livingston, KD7TBQ, sits with Neva Heckman, KC7MWB, this past year during a meeting arranged by Idaho Assistant Section Manager Gary Peek, K7TIH. Both Livingston and Heckman often frequent the Over the Hill Net. [Becky Livingston, KD7STM Photo] |
Covered Wagons and Chat Rooms
Neva grew up in rural Idaho and said she clearly remembers traveling to Missouri with her family in a covered wagon. After living in Alaska for many years, she returned to Idaho. When asked why at age 92 she got her ham ticket, she quickly answered that it was because her son Paul "Doc" Rhines, KB7REX, wanted her to do so. Neva still lives at home, but requires her son's assistance on a daily basis. Neva Heckman, KC7MWB, turned 100 this past April, remains active on the bands and still participates in local ham radio nets. One of her favorites is the Over the Hill Net, which refers to going over the hill to work, as opposed to being over the hill in age.
Someone else who participates most days in the Over the Hill Net is Isaiah Livingston, KD7TBQ. At the time he was initially licensed in 2002, Isaiah was Idaho's youngest Amateur Radio operator at the age of 7. Every member of his immediate family is a ham. Isaiah's father, Ed Livingston, is WB6NNW; his mother, Becky, is KD7STM; brother Zachary is WB6UAL, and brother Isaac is KD7STN.
Ed is a teacher a Vallivue High School in Caldwell, Idaho,
an ARRL "Big Project" school, which sports the club call sign K7VHS. At home,
Ed infused his family with his passion for Amateur Radio. When Isaiah passed
his test in October 2002, his mother remarked that it completed the
transformation of the Livingston family into a ham-ily.
 Neva Heckman, at 100, is Idaho's oldest Amateur Radio operator. Last year, she had the opportunity to meet the state's youngest ham, then-8 year-old Isaiah Livingston, KD7TBQ. [Paul Rhines, KB7REX, Photo] |
Crossing the Bridge
When Idaho Assistant Section Manager Gary Peek, K7TIH, heard that Isaiah had passed his FCC test, becoming Idaho's youngest ham, he put out an inquiry to determine the identity of Idaho oldest living ham. Rhines, an active member of both the Amateur Radio Emergency Service and the state's Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service programs, reminded Gary about his mother, who until recently had also attended RACES meetings herself. With his subjects identified, Peek made arrangements to get Neva and Isaiah together for a picture-taking session.
In November 2002, Gary brought together Idaho's youngest and oldest living Amateur Radio operators. As cameras recorded the occasion, the two hams talked about their experiences and aspirations. Both openly smiled as they talked in animated fashion, obviously excited about their common bond. For those present, it was as if time bent around, bridged a chasm of age with the shared interest and joy of Amateur Radio.
John Cline, K7BDS, is a former Section Manager of the
ARRL San Diego section. A retired US Navy Lieutenant Commander, he also served
as Idaho's Director of Disaster Services from May 1995 until October 2003. He's
currently enrolled in a Master's program in homeland security and defense at
the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Cline can be reached via
e-mail at k7bds@arrl.net.
| Previous: Chiao to Sub for McArthur as Next ISS Commander | Next: Auction of AO-40 Sculpture to Help Fund AMSAT ECHO Satellite Launch |
