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ARLX014 ARRL Pacific Division Director Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT (SK)

ZCZC AX14
QST de W1AW  
Special Bulletin 14  ARLX014
>From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  November 2, 2020
To all radio amateurs 

SB SPCL ARL ARLX014

ARLX014 ARRL Pacific Division Director Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT (SK)

ARRL Pacific Division Director Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT, of Oakland,
California, died October 30. An ARRL Life Member, he was 65.

"Jim was passionate about ham radio and a dedicated member of the
ARRL Board of Directors," ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, said.
"He devoted himself to the members of his Division and always strove
to do what was best for amateur radio and its future. His knowledge
and leadership were significant and will be missed by the many who
worked with him and had the pleasure to know him."

Tiemstra was ARRL Pacific Division Vice Director from 2009 through
2017, sitting on the Administration and Finance, and Programs and
Services Committees of the Board. He became ARRL Pacific Division
Director in January 2018. Currently, he was a member of the
Administration and Finance Committee, the Legal Structure Review
Committee, chair of the Legislative Advocacy Committee, and an
advisor to the Amateur Radio Legal Defense and Assistance Committee,
among other Board assignments.

Licensed in 1970 as WN9ELU in Chicago, Tiemstra was the president of
his high school radio club in Illinois. Early on, he built most of
his own gear from Heathkits. In 1977, he married Lilah Greene,
KE6EHD, and they moved to California, where Tiemstra became N6OIK,
later choosing K6JAT as a vanity call sign. He'd also held V26JAT
and 3D2TJ and had operated from Curacao and Hawaii.

Primarily a contester and DXer, Tiemstra had been a DXpedition
member and had long been involved in the public service aspects of
the hobby. As a member of the Oakland Amateur Radio Emergency
Service (ARES) group, he was among those responding to the Loma
Prieta earthquake in 1989 and the Oakland Hills firestorm in 1991,
receiving a Certificate of Appreciation from the American Red Cross.
He championed the Emergency Communication Ham Operation (ECHO)
proposal to install amateur radio equipment in his city's emergency
operations center and in each of its 30 fire stations.

Tiemstra worked with his ARES group to gain RACES recognition, wrote
the RACES Operations Manual, and was instrumental in forging a
formal Letter of Understanding with the City of Oakland. Jim served
as Oakland's RACES Radio Officer for more than 14 years, was on the
mayor's Emergency Management Council, and was ARRL East Bay Section
Emergency Coordinator. In 2002, he was recognized by the Oakland
Fire Department as Community Volunteer of the Year.

In 1998, Tiemstra incorporated the Oakland Radio Communication
Association (ORCA), an ARRL affiliated club, was a founding
director, and became its first president. He served as trustee of
the club's call sign, WW6OR.

Tiemstra retired in 2018 as a federal practitioner in the private
practice of law. He was an ARRL Diamond Club and Maxim Society
member.

He and his wife have twin sons, Robert and Matthew, KI6IHP.
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