The Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club call sign of W4AFC is a vanity call sign obtained to honor Marion Shields, one of Tom NY4I’s mentors when he first started in amateur radio, alongside Don Pablo Bostrom, KI4FI. According to Tom, “Marion was a Spanish language teacher at Dunedin High School and had a significant influence on me, encouraging me to think rationally and consider my actions.” He was actively involved in the Dunedin VEC program, where many individuals successfully passed their code tests using the excellent headphones available in the Dunedin language lab.
Both Marion and Paul were instrumental in ensuring that the high school radio club had the necessary radios and organized antenna parties for their installation. Tom also recalls, “Marion had a Commodore 64 in his classroom, which sparked my interest in programming—and we all know how that turned out :).” When the call sign W4AFC became available, Tom was able to secure it, allowing him to continue amateur radio activities in north Pinellas County. You can read more about Marion here.
Thanks to Jeff, WA4AW, Tom discovered the original holder of the W4AFC call sign: Ralph Hollis. Ralph was aboard the USS Arizona when it was attacked at Pearl Harbor, and he, along with his comrades, tragically lost his life on that fateful day. More about Mr. Hollis here and here.