Remembering Lou Arbanas
By Suellene Petersen / K6CPA, PIC
In the good old days before the current pandemic restrictions, my husband, Steve Petersen A6CP, and I were part of the Santa Cruz VE group which not only provided license testing but also had a teaching section which provided study sessions for licensing the first two levels. After several requests, we decided to offer an upgrade to Extra level class. We had so many applicants sign up that we had to find a room large enough to hold us. We found a classroom at UCSC that would be large enough to hold us and was available in the evenings. Lou was one of our students.
Since Lou was coming from Monterey, he would leave home early enough to beat the commuter traffic. He usually was waiting at the classroom door when I showed up. I also arrived early in order to set up the tables and equipment to show slides for the teaching materials required by some of the teachers. Lou helped me with the set-up and we had lots of time to get to know each other.
The class was full. We had several teachers who were experts in segments of the curriculum. I think all of us learned something new to enlarge our grasp of the material. When we held the licensing exam for all of our students Lou passed with a high score.
After the exam Lou told me how he felt when he was driving home from the UCSC campus. He said that he was saddened because he enjoyed being back on a college campus and that the experience had ended. However, he was quite happy to obtain his Extra Class License. He remained friends with Steve and myself even if we did not see each other as often as we did during the duration of the class yet we still kept in touch.
When I saw the notice that Lou had become a silent key, I was shocked. He passed away from congestive heart failure on November 14,2021. He was the District Emergency Coordinator for the Monterey County ARES. We are all saddened to lose him. He was a great guy and we will all miss him as a friend who contributed much time and effort into supporting our amateur radio goals.
I am sure that all of the folks who knew him have special memories of their times spent with Lou and appreciate all of his good work.
May his memory stay with us all as he rests in peace.
