National Capital Chapter 70 - Ottawa, Canada
VE3SB Biography 
Frederick William (Bill) Marsh - SK - QCWA# 8628 (Silent Key)
Background
Grew up in the Toronto area.
Education / Employment History
- 1935-1938 - Bank of Nova Scotia (New Toronto branch) - Bank Clerk
- 1938-1945 - Royal Canadian Air Force - Wireless Mechanic (technician)
- 1945-1950 - University of Toronto - Graduated with degree in Engineering Physics
- 1950-1956 – Dept of Mines and Technical Surveys – Mines Branch – Stress Analyst
Amateur Radio History
- 1933 - First licensed, as VE3SB, in Islington, Ontario.
- 1945-1950 While enrolled at university, Bill managed to work some CW and VHF.
- 1950-1956 - He was mobile and also operated on HF CW.
- 1956-1971 - Bill was inactive, gave away his equipment and spent time with his flute.
- 1971 - He received his Advanced Certificate of Proficiency and bought commercial gear. From then onward he worked all bands 160 – 2M but his main interest was CW traffic handling. He held OTC, RCC, ROWH, OBB (Order of the Black Book – DFL #6), OPS, ORS, BPL and TCC (Eastern).
Additional Information
As a personal challenge he learned Railroad Morse and was proficient in both codes.
Bill joined QCWA in 1974 and was one of the twenty-one Charter Members of Chapter 70. In 1978 he was presented with the QCWA plaque for being licensed 75 Years.
His close friend, Ralph Cameron VE3BBM provided several stories for this biography:
“Swampy” could manipulate the English language and wording which was hilarious.”
“In his last year I gave him a CD of Moby Dick in Morse code, as a Christmas gift. It had around 375 MP3 files on it and he listened to it and said it was the best version of the novel he had ever "read".
“Every morning we exchanged "poetry" and “cryptic dialogue” on packet.
“Also in his last year, though confined to bed in a nursing home, Bill’s mind was alert and memory exceptional. His caregiver read to him daily as his sight was 90% gone due to Glaucoma. His reading material was the Greek classics, including Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and others. She said that, as a result, she had received a real education.”
Bill passed away on April 18, 2010 at the age of 93.