Richard Smith, W4RSS

Richard “Dick” Sherwood Smith, W4RSS, 84, passed away peacefully on March 1, 2026, at Ball Memorial Hospital after a very short illness.

Dick and I became friends about eight years ago when he and his wife, Liz, moved to nearby New Castle, Indiana, to be closer to their kids. His granddaughter attended Ball State University so he was acquainted with the area, was a radio amateur, and one day happened across my blog. He told me he wanted us to get together sometime.

I told him my wife and I were planning to attend a talk at the University that very evening to be given by NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence and I asked Dick to join us. He did and we quickly became friends, meeting regularly for coffee and ham chat.

Dick was originally from Michigan where he worked in education. After retiring the couple moved to the foothills of North Carolina where I understand they led very active and enjoyable lives. As time went on they felt an urge to live closer to family which is what brought W4RSS to this area. Our regular coffee klatches were always enjoyable as we came to know each other.

Dick was an incredibly gregarious, old-school radio ham who easily made friends wherever he roamed. That’s why I wasn’t terribly surprised a year or so later when he told me he had become President of the local amateur radio club! Outside of our regular coffee meetings I would bump into him at local hamfests, some of which he had organized.

Toward the end of his life our meetings became less frequent. His wife fell ill and Dick was her caretaker until she passed. Six months went by without hearing from him. Then I read the news that he had passed too. Losing a friend like Dick is not easy. Though we hadn’t known each other very long, I valued the time and conversations we shared. I’ve grown weary of saying “goodbye” to good friends, and Dick was a very good friend.

Rest in Peace my friend, I already miss our coffee talk. 73 W4RSS SK