William Tynan

William Almas Tynan died at his home on Tierra Linda Ranch in Kerrville Texas, August 7, 2018. Tynan was a resident of Tierra Linda for the past 29 plus years and very much enjoyed living in the Texas Hill Country.

He was born October 12, 1926 in Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, to Maurice I. Tynan and Mable J. Almas Tynan. For the first ten years of his life, Tynan lived in Saint Paul, then moved to the Washington area when his father received a position with the U.S. government. Living in the Maryland suburbs of D.C. Tynan attend elementary, junior high and high school in Montgomery County, Maryland, then one year, Washington College, Chestertown, Maryland, then enrolled at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, graduating with degrees in Electrical and Management Engineering in 1950. Tynan was employed by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland in 1951, retiring in 1988. At JHU/APL he participated in the development of several U.S. Navy missiles including the Tomahawk Cruise Missile.

As a young child, Tynan was fascinated by radio. Before moving to the D.C. area, he acquired a Philco mantel model radio with short wave allowing him to listen to overseas broadcasts from London, Berlin, and other foreign capitals as well as to amateur radio operators, otherwise known as hams.
World War 2 interrupted his pursuit of an Amateur Radio license, but he did participate in a civilian defense activity called the War Emergency Radio Service, securing Third Class Radiotelephone license from the Federal Communications Commission to do so. As the War was ending, Tynan passed the exam for an Amateur Radio license and received the call letters, W3KMV. Later achieving the highest grade amateur license, Extra Class, he was issued the call, W3XO.

In addition to his amateur activities, Tynan obtained a First-Class Radiotelephone license and worked as an engineer at several broadcast stations. This led him, in conjunction with a friend, to apply for a commercial radio station license for the Washington area. In November 1961, WHFS, the Washington area's first FM stereo radio station began operation at 102.3 on the FM dial. One of his employees at WHFS began publishing a monthly Washington/Baltimore magazine Forecast FM listing classical music selections to be played by various area stations. For twelve years, Tynan contributed a Hi Fi equipment column for that magazine. This led to him being selected the Contributing Editor for a column in the nation's leading Amateur Radio magazine, QST. He continued conducting this column, ''The World above 50 MHz'' for eighteen years.

In early 1969, Tynan attended a meeting that led to the formation of The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, otherwise known as AMSAT. He served several roles for the organization, including President and Board Chairman. While AMSAT President, it participated in an international project to construct and launch of the largest Amateur Radio satellite ever attempted. On stepping down as AMSAT President, Tynan began writing fiction novels, publishing two, Scott-free and Separate Worlds, both available from Amazon, including on Kindle, under the name W. Almas Tynan. At the time of his death, Tynan had several other novels and a number of short stories completed but not published.

Continuing his interest in radio, he was a member of the Hill Country Amateur Radio Club in Kerrville for over 29 years. Tynan was an active radio amateur up until his passing, concentrating on the higher frequency amateur bands including the microwave bands. On the 50 MHz band, he used the Moon as a reflector to contact several countries not otherwise available via conventional means.

During his life, Tynan received several prestigious awards, including The Ham of Year in 1996 from the Dayton Amateur Radio Association and in 2012, the Barry Goldwater Amateur Radio Award from the Radio Club of America of which he was a Fellow Member.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years plus, Mattie Dene LeNoir Tynan; cousins, Kay Spratt of Caledonia, Ontario; Jane Wilson of Toronto, Ontario; brothers-in-law, James V. Lenoir; Richard George LeNoir; Lynn LeNoir and Wayne Wendt and sisters-in-law, Sallie LeNoir Wendt; Donna LeNoir; Kathy LeNoir; nephews, Jacob Lynn LeNoir (Amanda); Griffin Patrick LeNoir; niece, Jamie Carol LeNoir and great nephew, Ethan Jacob LeNoir.
No services will be held, his ashes will be scattered in two locations, the cemetery in Elgin, Texas where his wife will be interred and the cemetery in Hagersville, Ontario, Canada which is his mother's birthplace, and where his parents are buried.

Arrangements are under the direction and care of the professionals at Kerrville Funeral Home (830) 895-5111.

---