Pat Buller, W7RQT, silent key

     Pat died on Sept. 18, 2006. He set an example to follow. I said it that way so he could point out the awkward phrasing. I'm listening, OM. Pat didn't let me get away with much. I liked that.
   
 
 
Patrick E. Buller, W7RQT
 
 
It just seemed right when Pat Buller was around, and it seems completely wrong that now, he isn't. Pat died on September 18 from lung cancer. He was diagnosed not long before.
 
We met in the mid-1990s. I recall being impressed with his highly practical approach to resolving engineering and technical problems. Not to mention his blunt way of talking. And his sense of humor. At the time, he was an electronics design engineer with the Washington State Patrol. He developed some inexpensive ways of improving the patrol's VHF radio communications system and wondered whether the information might be worth publishing. I said I believed it would, and helped him do just that. What it was, was that he helped me to look good by letting me publish his work.
 
After Pat retired from the patrol, he joined Tacoma Power in 2000 where he worked as a communications engineer until early this year. He often spoke of the need to expose young engineers to RF. Well, maybe that's not exactly the right way to say that. To train them how to design radio and microwave systems, to maintain them, and to mitigate interference. That's better. Some engineering school graduates, he would tell me, had ample education in engineering basics and computer science, but lacked a level of knowledge about RF that once was taught. He saw it as his mission to pass along what RF expertise he could to the engineers who would follow him.
 
In November 2001, following RCA's banquet in New York, Pat, his wife Eileen and I traveled by subway to see the site where the New York World Trade Center towers collapsed after being struck by hijacked jetliners during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. We stepped out of the subway car at a station near Ground Zero, and Eileen and I followed a woman passenger as she exited the platform through a turnstile. She tried to exit, anyway. So did we. But on the other side of the turnstile, a roll-down door blocked access to stairs leading to street level. Either Pat was more alert or one of us yelled STOP, but he avoided being trapped. He went to call 9-1-1, and officers from the New York Transit Authority came and unlocked a gate to release us temporary captives.
 
During another visit to New York in November 2004, Pat received RCA's President's Award for his contributions to the Club and the radio industry. Steve Klein, Tacoma Power's superintendent, said: "Pat Buller has made significant contributions to the radio industry and to Tacoma Power. He has an extraordinary depth and breadth of knowledge that he uses for practical applications to improve day-to-day utility operations. All of us at Tacoma Power congratulate Pat on this award."
 
Pat developed special test instruments and educational materials to locate and correct radio and television interference from power lines for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and was a contributing editor to Mobile Radio Technology magazine. In recent years, he custom-manufactured amateur radio balanced-line antenna tuners intended to replicate the functionality of the old E. F. Johnson Kilowatt Matchbox tuners. "There is always a waiting list for them," said Mark Peterson, WF7M. I wish I had one, myself. But then I would need an antenna. And who knows where that might lead?
 

 
Patrick E. Buller W7RQT Signing Off

 

Patrick left us for a new assignment on Sept. 18, 2006. He died at his Issaquah, WA home after a short battle with lung cancer, his family by his side. His life-long desire to use each day productively carried him to the end of his life. Patrick was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, March 10, 1936, to Justine and Patrick M. Buller. He served in the U.S. Navy and graduated from Utah State University as an Electrical Engineer. Patrick loved amateur radio with its eclectic community of "hams." He worked for Utah Power for 10 years before moving to Washington, where he appreciated the opportunity to utilize his many talents for the public good at Washington State Patrol and Tacoma Power. He considered it an honor to work at both agencies. He retired at 69 years from Tacoma Power. He thanks his many co-workers and friends who over the years endured his daily jokes. Patrick married Delia Richards and had two sons, Patrick Jr. (Kathy) and Michael. They later divorced. He married Eileen in 1977 and was a father to her children Clint Sloan (Maria), Cheri Buller-Sloan, Shelli Sloan (Alan Patmore). He had two grandchildren, Daxton Buller and Isabella Sloan. All of you were loved by Patrick and each one taught him invaluable life lessons. He was preceded in death by older brothers James, Thomas and Gerald. He had many nieces and nephews whom he admired. Patrick requested no funeral and that his ashes be scattered at a later date by his family near the sea on Whidbey Island, WA, his second home. If you wish to remember Patrick, please send a donation in his name to: The Radio Club of America Scholarship Fund, Attn: Mercy Contreras, 10 Drs. James Parker Blvd, Suite 103, Red Bank, NJ 07701-1500.
 
­The Salt Lake Tribune, Sept. 22, 2006
 

Eileen and Pat Buller
IWCE convention, May 2006

I knew, respected, and enjoyed Pat throughout our many years of association in APCO. A true gentleman and engineering scholar, Pat will be deeply missed. ­Gary David Gray, P.E.; W6DOE; Anaheim, California

 

Among the APCO Frequency Advisors that had worked with Pat, I certainly enjoyed the time we had together in different projects and opportunities. I will miss him with his friendly smile and handshake. ­Emery Reynolds, Littleton, Colorado

Pat was a friend and mentor to me for many years. He and I crossed paths many times as we were both "radio men." His approach to solving serious technical problems was both unique and extraordinary. The community and I am sure his family have lost a treasure with his passing. ­Don Pfohl, W7LPA, Salem, Oregon

Pat's dedication to radio communication, especially amateur radio has been a tremendous asset to all who have known him. His knowledge and use of the equipment, the FCC rules and regulations, and keeping us up to date on national and international activity that affects the amateur radio community has been especially valuable. Our annual field day activity would not have been as fun and as successful were it not for Pat's knowledge and experience. We will miss you, Pat. ­Del Marker, AC7QS, Issaquah, Washington
 
Pat was one of the few people I've ever met (including some of the world's most famous engineering professors at Berkeley, CalTech and Stanford) who could clearly and concisely express a technical concept in a manner that even many non-engineers could understand. I saw him do it time and again at any number of classes, conferences and symposia­as well as at the local watering hole, too!  ­John S. Powell, K6UCB, Denver
 
I first met Pat at Weber College in 1959 while enrolled in the Electrical Engineering program. We spent many hours together doing homework both at Weber and latter at Utah State University. Both of us shared many common interests including ham radio. Pat was my mentor as he helped me understand the practical side of the Electrical Engineering program and help make me sense of an otherwise difficult discipline. I will always remember his old Ford car with the kilowatt mobile rig. I did not have a car while attending USU and on those weekends when he would go home to Ogden I would catch a ride with him and we would talk to other hams while commuting. I also remember the Kilowatt linear amplifier Pat built which he had in his room at the Newman Center which I spent most of my free time using. For several years we kept in touch with one another via ham radio on Sunday mornings. Pat was always available to help me with engineering questions and I will miss his inspiration and friendship.  ­David Sanders, K7RGY, Latyon, Utah