Born: October 4, 1912 - Crosby, PA

Died: February 5, 1986 - Harrisburg, PA
Interred: Rolling Green Memorial Cemetery
Camp Hill, PA

Married: Marguerite Howard
April 29, 1942 - Washington, DC

Children:
Carolyn G. Fox
Hal German

Brothers:
Ronald Thomas German
Harry Grim German, Jr.

Parents: Maude Thomas and Harry German

Engineer Certificate: Radio Corp. of America

Dad was the oldest of three sons, and grew up in Smethport, Pennsylvania, right by the Allegheny National Forest. This was — and is — prime hunting and fishing territory. Dad enjoyed fly fishing and did hunt, but his first love was always ham radio, followed closely by photography. Eventually he gave up photographic darkrooms, but always had a radio set nearby at home and in the car.

His career as a “ham” took him many places he never anticipated. As a young man, he joined the Naval Reserve as a Radioman 3rd class, later an Ensign. In 1939, following the discovery of a spy at the London Embassy, President Roosevelt directed the navy and army to train a small number of men to be dispatched to major embassies as communications and code personnel in lieu of State Department civilians. Dad was one of those selected and was stationed at the Court of St. James, London, throughout the Blitz. Reassigned to duty in Washington just before Pearl Harbor, he spent the rest of WWII there as a CNO code and watch officer on White House liaison.

After the war, and with a young family to support, he worked as a manufacturers' sales representative for over 20 years, returning to radio in 1967 as Communications Officer for PA Civil Defense until retirement.

He was a great guy, a gifted storyteller, could play a dozen musical instruments, and had a wonderful sense of humor. He and Mom traveled often after he retired, bred Birman cats for a while, and played a lot of bridge. He loved to read spy thrillers and never missed a ham radio schedule. Hams have a phrase — “silent key”— to describe one of their own who has died. A silent key is one of the saddest sounds of all.
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