Bill Huntimer

Bill Huntimer

William P. “Bill” Huntimer [1931- Dec. 31, 2020], Silent Key. May he rest in peace.

Bill Huntimer KIØCW was a 38-year Legionnaire with American Legion Post 65 in Dell Rapids, S.D., a longtime “ham” and original member of The American Legion Amateur Radio Club (TALARC).
Bill enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1950 and was sent to Korea, where he participated in four major engagements. Nine years later, he switched to the Navy and went to Vietnam with the Seabees. Altogether, he spent 22½ years in the service before returning to his home in Dell Rapids. In a 2017 American Legion Magazine interview, Bill said of the “special family” he gained: “I was never broke or without a friend while I was in the military.”
That’s where he first got into ham radio, passing a licensing test on Midway Island. His job was tank mechanic, but he always liked electricity, he said. As an active volunteer in TALARC, he ran the 20m net every month since TALARC's 2011 inception.
In the summer of 2005, Bill put an amateur radio disaster-relief mission into action following Hurricane Katrina, “passing traffic” for nearly a week. A responder on a later net, identified as “Nick,” needed to let his family know he was all right. “Everyone in the country volunteered to take that call,” but in the end it was Bill who did. Nick called him “an exemplary character . . . helping people out when they need it.”
Bill served as post adjutant twice, county commander and department sergeant-at-arms, among other offices. He often used the nets as opportunities to recruit for the Legion, asking responders if they served in the military.
He often marveled at how much communication had changed in his lifetime, saying in the 2017 interview that he was glad to be part of it – as a helper, not just a consumer. “I like to do the best I can at any job I do,” he said.
In 2017 Bill was selected for The American Legion of South Dakota’s “Legionnaire of the Year” award.
Bill’s widow, Evelyn, is also an amateur radio operator; call sign KBØWJN.