K4RQ - Febuary 12, 2005

---

December 2005

Charles 'Con' Concannon Fort Belvoir, VA QCWA # 27022 Chapter 91

Con's license from 1922 & Audion tube from his homebrewed receiver

---

                  Added on March 3, 2005

Con wanted to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full honors 
due his rank and length of service.  Even though they run services 
simultaneously throughout the day, every day of the week, the wait for 
an available time slot is currently a minimum of 5 weeks.

Con's son, Chuck, has provided me the specifics on Con's services:

Sunday, 10 April:  viewing at
--------------------------------------
   Demaine Funeral Home
   520 S. Washington
   Alexandria, VA
   703-549-0074

Monday, 18 April: burial at
------------------------------------
   Arlington National Cemetery

Service begins 9:00 a.m. at the Ft. Myer Chapel  (25 minutes)

Following that, a procession including a horse-drawn caisson, an honor  
guard, and a military band will escort Con's body to its final resting  
place.  The ceremony will conclude at 10:20 a.m.  (Yes, it is precisely  
timed and executed.)

Re: the certificate and plaque prepared by QCWA, Inc., to honor Con's  
85 years since he was first licensed as 6RQ in 1920:
   Chuck said that our chapter could present it to the family after the  
conclusion of the formal ceremony at 10:20.
   Since Con and I became close friends in recent years, I told Chuck I  
would feel honored to do that.

Chuck said the best way to the Chapel is to enter the main gate for the  
cemetery, ask for directions to the Ft. Myer gate, and find the parking  
for the Chapel which is just outside the Ft. Myer gate.

Chuck also told me that he'd found the box where Con kept all his ham  
licenses, including the one from 1920, that Con thought he had  
misplaced 5 years ago.  Also in the box  were Con's de Forest triode,  
which he used to build his first regenerative short-wave receiver, and  
his bug.  Chuck will be turning some of these over to me to find them a  
good home.

You can see this triode and some photos of Con here:

       

Chuck also sent the link to the tribute posted by the U.S. Navy  
Memorial Foundation on their "Navy Log" website -- see below.

  By the way, Chuck's email address reflects the facts that he was born  
in the Canal Zone and that he graduated from college in 1959.

73, Dick Rucker, KM4ML
Vic Clark Chapter 91 Secretary


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Zonian1959@aol.com
> Date: March 3, 2005 6:22:30 AM EST
> To: rrucker@bellatlantic.net
> Subject: Check out The Navy Log
>
> Hi Dick.
>
> Here is the link I told you about lonesailor.org
>
> Chuck

"Charles Fred Concannon, 98, a retired Navy commander and communications officer who did personnel work in the 1960s for Technical Materiel Corp. in Alexandria, died Feb. 12 in the nursing unit of the Fairfax retirement home at Fort Belvoir. He had congestive heart failure.

"Cmdr. Concannon was born in Richmond, Calif., and served in the Naval Reserve in the 1930s. He served on active duty from 1940 to 1961, when he retired as commanding officer of the communications station in Cheltenham [Maryland]. He was a veteran of World War II. He settled in the Washington area in 1961.

"His memberships included the Mason and the Quarter Century Wireless Association.

"His wife of 65 years, Mildred Gossman Concannon, died in 1999. Survivors include a son, Charles F. Concannon, Jr., of Chantilly, a granddaughter, and a great-granddaughter."

To my mind, this obit does not due the life of the man I knew justice. On the QCWA Vic Clark Chapter 91's website, there's a folder of downloadable files. You can get to it by clicking on this address: Once there, drill down through these folders:

biographies of chapter members
       Silent Keys
         Chas Concannon, K4RQ 
           Chas Concannon's story.rtf

This file in Rich Text Format (RTF) is an "as told to" biography prepared from several discussions that Con and I had several years ago.