I KNOW HOW MUCH TOM LOVED HIS FAMILY. HE WAS CLOSE TO HIS SISTER EILENE WHOM I TOOK CARE OF UNTILL HER DEATH IN 2002. HE WAS A TRUE GENTLEMAN AND A DEAR FRIEND TO ALL WHO KNEW HIM. SORRY I MISSED HIS PASSING. I WILL SEE YOU AGAIN TOM. GOD BLESS YOU ALL. JERRY ANN ACEY

Please accept my wife Gail and my condolences for Tom's passing. We were out of the area and did not return in time for his services. Tom was one of the true gentlemen in th eRiverside County Amateur Radio Club; I always enjoyed talking with Tom. 

I remember one night I finished installing a HF antenna on my pickup truck and had made a contact on 20 Meters with a ham near Moscow, Russia. I was tuning up and down the band to listen to other hams and I stumbled upon the Pacific Seafarers Net where I thought I heard a familiar voice. I waited for Net Control to ID and heard Tom WA6TLL. When the net concluded I made a call for my first cross-town DX contact with Tom. He was quite surprised to hear me on HF.

We'll miss him in the radio club and on the air. Photo of Tom with mike KN6N at the clubs 2005 Field Day.

Don KD6UVT

To Tom's family... Please accept my condolences to you all.  As a participant in the Pacific Seafarers Net, I knew Tom as a very active participant and active ham radio operator.  I always enjoyed talking to Tom, he was a true gentleman and a gentle man.  He is greatly missed on the net.  
Aloha,
Jane Goldsmith NH7TZ

Judy,

I am so sorry for your loss. I am thankful that I got to meet your father, however short was the time. He was delightful and had a sweet countenance. You will be reunited in heaven one day. Praying for you and your brother and family. God bless you.

The world and amateur radio has lost another amazing individual.  I met Tom in 1990 when I went cruising on our boat in the South Pacific from San Diego.  He was an almost daily contact when we were underway which lasted 6 years.  On the last voyage he was instrumental in our rescue by the USCG off of Adak AK in a very nasty blow.  We settled in AK a short time later and 12 years ago relocated to Kauai where I again became active on the Pacific Seafarers Net.  Funny after the net one night we got to rag chewing and I found he was an old Squid (USN) like myself.  We got to telling sea stories and that is when I found he was also a Mine Sweep sailor like myself.  To say I will miss his voice and participation would be the understatement of the century.  I well-up when I think of how close we were and we had never met face to face or eye-ball as we hams call it.    
LCDR Whelchel you have been piped ashore for the last time.  May God rest you well for all the happiness and solace you have brought to the mariners who go down to the sea in small boats 
 CDR Tom Ellis USN (ret)  K4XV  S/V Kirsten Anne

Jim and Judy,

I am so sorry for the loss of your father. He was such a kind and gentle man. Even though there is joy in knowing he is with the Lord, there is still sorrow here on Earth for the loss of his presence. May your memories warm your heart in the days and weeks to come.

With love,
Jeanette Prescott

Jim, Lui, Michael and Sharon,

Sorry to hear of the death of your Dad, Father-in-law and Grandpa.  We agree with you that it is comforting to know he had faith in Chris as his Savior.
Love, John and Betty Addink

Another shock hearing of Tom's passing, I am so sorry to hear of his passing and wish the family my best. . .deepest condolences, Tom was a pleasure to know and a wonderful ham . . Always, Maureen K6bsc

Hello,
        First off, my condolences to all of his family. I was a fellow ham radio operator and remember many times when Tom would check in to the various radio nets especially on the RACES HF Net on Sunday mornings. He always sounded upbeat and energetic. I knew something was amiss when I didn't hear him check in for some time. He will be sorely missed.
Jeffrey C. Lloyd N6FRW

OBITUARY

Tom Whelchel

June 1, 1924 – October 4, 2015

Acheson & Graham Garden of Prayer Mortuary

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