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It is with the deepest sadness that I share with you the news of the loss of my dear friend George T. Baker, W5YR. George, known to many fellow-Hams as the "Yellow Rose", passed away at age 75, on Thursday, 17 March 2005, whilst undergoing cardiac surgery.
George had been struggling with medical problems arising from a heart-valve replacement which he underwent in June 2004.
His loss is all the more saddening to me personally, in that I never had the opportunity to meet him in person, or work him on the air. George and I began an e-mail correspondence in 2000, when I commented on some of his reflector postings. It did not take us long to discover that we were kindred spirits who had followed similar paths professionally and in amateur radio. Our e-mail exchanges evolved into a remarkable friendship, which resulted in a technical collaboration in familiarising our fellow radio amateurs with DSP, receiver architecture and other radio design concepts.
Many of George's excellent technical contributions grace my website, especially my Icom page. I grieve sorely over his loss, but at the same time am most honoured that his superb technical knowledge and transparent, concise prose can live on via my website. I was going to assist George in building his very own website, but his illness made this impossible.
George's technical mastery, his clear, lucid writing style and his supreme ability to convey new, unfamiliar technical concepts to audiences and readers in a manner which always put them at ease, will be sorely missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him and working with him. Our forums will also miss his input, his guidance, and his wry humour. George was a radio amateur in the truest sense; he loved the art and science of radio for its own sake.
Our community will never be quite the same again, now that George is gone. May he be forever inscribed in the Book of Life. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Jane and with his family. Dear old buddy, I shall miss you!
"His passing created a ripple in the Ham Radio time-space continuum." - Matt Erickson, KK5DR.
Read an excellent short biography of George.