ARRL Headquarters TIS Coordinator Al Alvareztorres, AA1DO, SK

NEWINGTON, CT, Mar 31, 2003--ARRL Technical Information Service Coordinator Al Alvareztorres, AA1DO, died March 26 in New Haven, Connecticut of a heart attack. He was 60 years old.

"Al will be missed in the ARRL Lab," said Lab Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI. "Every day when I walked into the lab, the first person I saw was Al, sitting at his desk answering members' questions. He always looked up at me and gave a cheerful smile to start my day on a positive note. This extended to his workday, as other HQ staff could always count on Al to offer friendly help or advice."

Originally hired in 1994 as the weekend W1AW operator, Alvareztorres, an accomplished Webmaster--moved over to the lab in 1999 to oversee the TIS. Hare said he literally rebuilt the TIS Web pages from the ground up and he was the driving force behind the "Doctor is Online" Web feature. Alvareztorres was also the co-editor of the ARRL Ham Radio FAQ book. He also authored a number of QST articles on mobile and stealth operating.

"Al was a quiet, friendly person who genuinely enjoyed being of service to our members and to his fellow staff members," said ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. Lab colleague Mike Gruber, W1MG, said that Alvareztorres had a great sense of humor that helped make the lab a fun place to work. "Al was universally well-liked. He was a terrific guy and this is a real loss for the lab," Gruber said. He added that Alvareztorres had a gift for teaching others and a special knack for being able to identify a problem and develop an effective solution.

Originally licensed in 1959 as WV2FGD, he also had held the calls WB6UHO, WA2KUN, DL4AA and WA1NPX.

"I met Al in my sophomore year at Don Bosco High. We took the same school bus. We shared many common interests as well as some common disinterests," said Alvareztorres' high school classmate and fellow DBHS radio club member John Diefenbach, K1TLV, ". We lost touch until three or four years ago when I happened to read about a certain Al Alvareztorres in QST. There could be only one Al Alvareztorres in the country! A phone call revealed that my high school friend was indeed working for the ARRL. After that, Al was an annual visitor to [my house], sometimes twice a year, so we could go to 'Hosstraders' in May and October."

Born April 18, 1942 in New York City, Al was the son of Albert and Margaret Alvareztorres. He grew up in River Edge, New Jersey and graduated from Don Bosco Preparatory School in 1959. Three months after graduation, he joined the US Air Force, serving with a tactical nuclear missile group in Korea, later with Strategic Air Command in California and finally as a missile group crew chief in Germany. He was honorably discharged in 1970 as an Airman First Class, later attaining the rank of Technical Sergeant in the Connecticut Air National Guard, in which he served until 1987. He also worked in sales, electronics and production control.

Alvareztorres had many hobbies in addition to ham radio. He liked reading and movies--with a special fondness for science fiction--astronomy, model airplane building, computers, travel and music.

His mother Margaret, of Florida, and a brother, Ray, of Virginia, survive him. Memorial service arrangements are pending.

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