Keith Fiske

   

 

Was a Radio Operator on Great Lakes Boats in the 1930s during the depression. Worked on Slate Island and at Timmins Airport as a Radio Operator. Worked at Toronto Airport as a Radio Technician. Worked as a Radio Inspector (RI) in Toronto and in the Lakehead area. He retired from the Department of Transport in 1955.
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Il a été opérateur radio sur des bateaux des Grands Lacs dans les années 1930, pendant la Grande Dépression. Il a travaillé à Slate Island et à l'aéroport de Timmins comme opérateur radio. Il a travaillé à l'aéroport de Toronto comme technicien radio. Il a travaillé comme inspecteur radio (RI) à Toronto et dans la région de Lakehead. Il a pris sa retraite du ministère des Transports en 1955..

 

 

Bob Hansen VE3RVA on the left and Keith Fiske VE3JQ on the right

picking a winner at the 2007 annual dinner of the Lakehead Amateur Radio Club in Thunder Bay, Ontario

 

Obituary - Avis de décès

Keith Fiske

August 23, 1912 - April 1, 2012

 

VE3JQ is now silent. At the age of ninety-nine, Keith Fiske passed away at his home early in the morning on Sunday, April 1, 2012.

 

Keith was born in Port Arthur, Ontario on August 23, 1912.

 

He attended the Port Arthur Technical Institute where he excelled as a student in radio and electronic studies. As a young man, during the Depression, he worked on the James Whalen tugboat using the "spark" system (code) to communicate with ships on Lake Superior.

 

Following that job, he moved from Port Arthur with his wife and young daughter to work on Slate Island making several trips from Port Arthur on the James Whalen as it broke up the ice on Lake Superior during each spring and fall. He enjoyed his work on Slate Island communicating with the ships and assisting them in bad weather.

 

After his time on Slate Island, Keith and his family moved to an airport north of Timmins where he soon became Officer in Charge. After 12 years, he transferred to the Toronto airport as a radio technician looking after the radios in the Toronto airport tower.

 

Following that job, Keith became a radio inspector for Toronto and area. Later he returned to the Lakehead where he continued his work as a radio technician and inspector, retiring in 1955.

 

Keith has several certificates of achievement and excellence in both radio and code. He was very proud of being a radio amateur and of his call letters VE3JQ. Being a radio amateur was one of his greatest enjoyments in life.

 

Keith was predeceased by his parents Martha Ellen and Robert Ernest Fiske and in 1979, his wife, Vera Fiske. He is survived by his daughter, Dolores Fiske, his good friend Sharon Gallant and his two loving cats Joey and Reggie. Also surviving are his nieces Pat Pringle, Pat Rouillard, Annmargaret Engberg, Joan Cameron and Sharon Connery (Orillia, ON) and one nephew Dennis Clark (Strathroy, ON).

 

The funeral service for Keith Fiske will be held on Thursday, April 5, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. in the chapel of the Sargent & Son Funeral Home, 21 N. Court Street, with Rev. Lloyd Ivany presiding. The interment will follow in Riverside Cemetery. Visitation for family and friends will be held one hour prior to service time. Following the interment a celebration of Keith's life will be held in the Madrid Room at the Travelodge Airlane Hotel.

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