[UPDATED 2016-02-04 1450 UTC] A beloved member of the extended ARRL family has passed on. Evelyn Gauzens, W4WYR, of Dunedin, Florida, died on January 31. She would have turned 87 this week. An ARRL Life Member, Gauzens served as the Southeastern Division Vice Director for more than 20 years. The ARRL Board of Directors elected her as an Honorary Vice President in 2002. She may be best known in the wider Amateur Radio community for having co-founded the Miami Tropical Hamboree and chairing it for 45 years. Past ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, said that when she became a Vice Director in 1990, Gauzens was there for her as the “go-to” person for newcomers to learn the ropes.

“When I was preparing the supporting materials for her nomination as ARRL Honorary Vice President, I learned about her role with Amateur Radio at the National Hurricane Center,” Craigie said. “She was a leader, she had a sense of humor, and she was kind. She contributed to Amateur Radio and her community. I am so glad that I could visit with her again at Orlando, so her face remains fresh in my memory. She was physically frail of course, but her mind was as sharp as ever, and she left me laughing.” Craigie expressed her condolences to Gauzens’ family.

Gauzens received a W4EHW/National Hurricane Center Award of Appreciation in 2003 during the annual Amateur Radio Hurricane Conference. That same year, she was honored for her 50 years of ARRL membership. Gauzens was a member of the Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA), a life member of the Dade Radio Club of Miami, and a participant in the Florida Phone Traffic Net. She also belonged to the A-1 Operators Club.

In 2001, the she was the recipient of the Citizens’ Ham Mobile-Marine Patrol (CHAMP) Award, presented to an Amateur Radio operator for an exemplary act of service to the community during the preceding year, or to an amateur who has demonstrated years of distinguished service to both Amateur Radio and the community. She was an ARRL VEC volunteer examiner. In 2002, Kenwood honored Gauzens with its “Top Gun Award.”

In 2012 Gauzens was inducted into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame, recognized as “an active proponent of improved Amateur Radio public relations” and as the principal on-site organizer — on behalf of the ARRL as the host IARU Member Society — of the 1976 IARU Region 2 conference in Miami Beach.

“Love Amateur Radio and all those I have met in the fraternity,” Gauzens said in her QRZ.com profile.

Gauzens’ late husband Carl was W4DTJ, a call sign now held by her granddaughter, Stephanie. Her son Alan is WA4ATF.

Visitation: Monday, February 8, 5-9 PM with Rosary recitation at 8 PM, Van Orsdel Coral Gables Chapel and Family Funeral Home. Funeral: Tuesday, February 9, 10 AM, St Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, Miami, with interment following at Woodlawn North Cemetery, Miami.