Born to Clarence Gilbert and Anna Bedard, he was an only child. It came to be a one parent household raised by his mother, my grandmother. She left Clarence around 1909 as he was very abusive. He was a hotel owner in McCaan, Nova Scotia and also had an drinking problems. So Grammy packed up my father, dressed herself as a man, my dad as a girl, took Nell the horse hitched her up to the buggy and off they went to live with her sister Tess in Plymouth, NH. Rumor from friends in Nova Scotia stated Clarence had a warrant sworn out for her arrest for stealing the horse. The authorities never found her. She was a clever and resourceful woman, never wasted anything, the smallest piece of yarn would end up in a hat or mitten. She made clothing for myself, sister and brother, by using newspaper to make a pattern. She moved to Berlin, NH to be the housekeeper for OB Brown who owned a very productive papermill. The family embraced her and my Dad and they were part of the family. When my father was 16 he became the chauffer for the family and attended school, he also became a mechanical engineer at the families expense and soon the plant manager of the Brown Paper Mill, it was there he met Marjorie Richards, the stiking blond teenager looking for work during the depression and attending high school. He hired her on the spot and was totally in awe of her. The dated a long time and she finally consented to marry him, and they went to a Catholic Church but the priest refused to marry them as my father refused to be told that his children would have to be catholic and abide by the rules of the church and that he would have to be Catholic, well, that didn't work so off to a justice of the peace. Mom lived at home for another year terrified to tell her mother (a strict catholic) but finally she did and they moved to the house his mother had purchased. Grammy lived there a short time and left the house to them.
My father was a ham radio operator and built his own equipment which was improved on with every new transmitter that came out, during WWII, he often connected parents with their children to talk. The Brown Company newsletter has this story documented,Harry Gilbert, Project Engineer for Brown Company, is a ham. A ham, in some cases, is a poor actor, but not in Harry's. For him and more than 150,000 others in the country, a ham is an amateur radio operator and a person who has one of the most exciting hobbies in existence.
Harry started his hobby-career as far back as 1937 and
has, since that time, become one of the most popular and
respected amateur radio operators in this section of the
country.
He first built a 75-watt transmitter with which he contacted
many new friends over the air waves. He has since
rebuilt his transmitter several times, simplified it and made
it more compact as well as increasing its power to the legal
limit of 1,000 watts set by the Federal Communications
Commission.
With today's elaborate amateur radio set-up there is a
series of ham "nets" across the country which can be used
for communications in times of disaster, such as floods,
hurricanes and heavy storms when ordinary methods of
communications sometimes fail. Harry, for instance, was
able to transmit important high water conditions from Berlin
to Lewiston, Maine about three years ago when this
area of the country was flooded. The information was instrumental in reducing the flood damage in the Lewiston
area.
One of Harry's more pleasant activities in connection with
his radio hobby is making contact with servicemen the world
over so that they may talk person to person with their folks
in Berlin. When questioned about it. Harry reported that
he laughs and cries with an average of three or four Berlin
parents each month who are overjoyed with the opportunity
of talking with their sons in far-off lands. And to Harry, . . .
it's a pleasure to be of some help.
Harry Gilbert, local radio amateur operator, is shown
here preparing to do "on the air."
He loved our house and built us a merry go round, a brick and granite gas fire place, we loved the steaks cooked out there with corn on the cob and of course mom's deserts.
He was full of life and we constantly had the company of other ham radio operators. Always a good time with children always welcome.
He retired in 1966 and bought a 42 foot cabin cruiser to spend summers on Lake Winnaspauke, they were great times, unfortunately he died a year later of a massive heart attack.
He was lot of fun, a bigger kid than his kids, he always came home from work everyday for lunch and would relax in the backyard. He was often called into work when one of the machines was down as he was very mechanically inclined, and actually designed and help build two of the companies paper making machines. During strikes at the mill he was the only man who could cross the picket line without issue. The men respected his position as he was very vocal to the owners about safety concerns and the dangers of the men faced every day, and he well respected theirs, it was a code of honor between them.
He loved my mother and he loved his mother, he was devestated when Grammy Gilbert died. He was a good man. He was honest, had integrity and always did the right thing no matter what the outcome would be. He always said when we went out, remember you are taking my name with you when you go. We got the message.
You are missed Dad.
My father was a ham radio operator and built his own equipment which was improved on with every new transmitter that came out, during WWII, he often connected parents with their children to talk. The Brown Company newsletter has this story documented,Harry Gilbert, Project Engineer for Brown Company, is a ham. A ham, in some cases, is a poor actor, but not in Harry's. For him and more than 150,000 others in the country, a ham is an amateur radio operator and a person who has one of the most exciting hobbies in existence.
Harry started his hobby-career as far back as 1937 and
has, since that time, become one of the most popular and
respected amateur radio operators in this section of the
country.
He first built a 75-watt transmitter with which he contacted
many new friends over the air waves. He has since
rebuilt his transmitter several times, simplified it and made
it more compact as well as increasing its power to the legal
limit of 1,000 watts set by the Federal Communications
Commission.
With today's elaborate amateur radio set-up there is a
series of ham "nets" across the country which can be used
for communications in times of disaster, such as floods,
hurricanes and heavy storms when ordinary methods of
communications sometimes fail. Harry, for instance, was
able to transmit important high water conditions from Berlin
to Lewiston, Maine about three years ago when this
area of the country was flooded. The information was instrumental in reducing the flood damage in the Lewiston
area.
One of Harry's more pleasant activities in connection with
his radio hobby is making contact with servicemen the world
over so that they may talk person to person with their folks
in Berlin. When questioned about it. Harry reported that
he laughs and cries with an average of three or four Berlin
parents each month who are overjoyed with the opportunity
of talking with their sons in far-off lands. And to Harry, . . .
it's a pleasure to be of some help.
Harry Gilbert, local radio amateur operator, is shown
here preparing to do "on the air."
He loved our house and built us a merry go round, a brick and granite gas fire place, we loved the steaks cooked out there with corn on the cob and of course mom's deserts.
He was full of life and we constantly had the company of other ham radio operators. Always a good time with children always welcome.
He retired in 1966 and bought a 42 foot cabin cruiser to spend summers on Lake Winnaspauke, they were great times, unfortunately he died a year later of a massive heart attack.
He was lot of fun, a bigger kid than his kids, he always came home from work everyday for lunch and would relax in the backyard. He was often called into work when one of the machines was down as he was very mechanically inclined, and actually designed and help build two of the companies paper making machines. During strikes at the mill he was the only man who could cross the picket line without issue. The men respected his position as he was very vocal to the owners about safety concerns and the dangers of the men faced every day, and he well respected theirs, it was a code of honor between them.
He loved my mother and he loved his mother, he was devestated when Grammy Gilbert died. He was a good man. He was honest, had integrity and always did the right thing no matter what the outcome would be. He always said when we went out, remember you are taking my name with you when you go. We got the message.
You are missed Dad.
Born to Clarence Gilbert and Anna Bedard, he was an only child. It came to be a one parent household raised by his mother, my grandmother. She left Clarence around 1909 as he was very abusive. He was a hotel owner in McCaan, Nova Scotia and also had an drinking problems. So Grammy packed up my father, dressed herself as a man, my dad as a girl, took Nell the horse hitched her up to the buggy and off they went to live with her sister Tess in Plymouth, NH. Rumor from friends in Nova Scotia stated Clarence had a warrant sworn out for her arrest for stealing the horse. The authorities never found her. She was a clever and resourceful woman, never wasted anything, the smallest piece of yarn would end up in a hat or mitten. She made clothing for myself, sister and brother, by using newspaper to make a pattern. She moved to Berlin, NH to be the housekeeper for OB Brown who owned a very productive papermill. The family embraced her and my Dad and they were part of the family. When my father was 16 he became the chauffer for the family and attended school, he also became a mechanical engineer at the families expense and soon the plant manager of the Brown Paper Mill, it was there he met Marjorie Richards, the stiking blond teenager looking for work during the depression and attending high school. He hired her on the spot and was totally in awe of her. The dated a long time and she finally consented to marry him, and they went to a Catholic Church but the priest refused to marry them as my father refused to be told that his children would have to be catholic and abide by the rules of the church and that he would have to be Catholic, well, that didn't work so off to a justice of the peace. Mom lived at home for another year terrified to tell her mother (a strict catholic) but finally she did and they moved to the house his mother had purchased. Grammy lived there a short time and left the house to them.
My father was a ham radio operator and built his own equipment which was improved on with every new transmitter that came out, during WWII, he often connected parents with their children to talk. The Brown Company newsletter has this story documented,Harry Gilbert, Project Engineer for Brown Company, is a ham. A ham, in some cases, is a poor actor, but not in Harry's. For him and more than 150,000 others in the country, a ham is an amateur radio operator and a person who has one of the most exciting hobbies in existence.
Harry started his hobby-career as far back as 1937 and
has, since that time, become one of the most popular and
respected amateur radio operators in this section of the
country.
He first built a 75-watt transmitter with which he contacted
many new friends over the air waves. He has since
rebuilt his transmitter several times, simplified it and made
it more compact as well as increasing its power to the legal
limit of 1,000 watts set by the Federal Communications
Commission.
With today's elaborate amateur radio set-up there is a
series of ham "nets" across the country which can be used
for communications in times of disaster, such as floods,
hurricanes and heavy storms when ordinary methods of
communications sometimes fail. Harry, for instance, was
able to transmit important high water conditions from Berlin
to Lewiston, Maine about three years ago when this
area of the country was flooded. The information was instrumental in reducing the flood damage in the Lewiston
area.
One of Harry's more pleasant activities in connection with
his radio hobby is making contact with servicemen the world
over so that they may talk person to person with their folks
in Berlin. When questioned about it. Harry reported that
he laughs and cries with an average of three or four Berlin
parents each month who are overjoyed with the opportunity
of talking with their sons in far-off lands. And to Harry, . . .
it's a pleasure to be of some help.
Harry Gilbert, local radio amateur operator, is shown
here preparing to do "on the air."
He loved our house and built us a merry go round, a brick and granite gas fire place, we loved the steaks cooked out there with corn on the cob and of course mom's deserts.
He was full of life and we constantly had the company of other ham radio operators. Always a good time with children always welcome.
He retired in 1966 and bought a 42 foot cabin cruiser to spend summers on Lake Winnaspauke, they were great times, unfortunately he died a year later of a massive heart attack.
He was lot of fun, a bigger kid than his kids, he always came home from work everyday for lunch and would relax in the backyard. He was often called into work when one of the machines was down as he was very mechanically inclined, and actually designed and help build two of the companies paper making machines. During strikes at the mill he was the only man who could cross the picket line without issue. The men respected his position as he was very vocal to the owners about safety concerns and the dangers of the men faced every day, and he well respected theirs, it was a code of honor between them.
He loved my mother and he loved his mother, he was devestated when Grammy Gilbert died. He was a good man. He was honest, had integrity and always did the right thing no matter what the outcome would be. He always said when we went out, remember you are taking my name with you when you go. We got the message.
You are missed Dad.
My father was a ham radio operator and built his own equipment which was improved on with every new transmitter that came out, during WWII, he often connected parents with their children to talk. The Brown Company newsletter has this story documented,Harry Gilbert, Project Engineer for Brown Company, is a ham. A ham, in some cases, is a poor actor, but not in Harry's. For him and more than 150,000 others in the country, a ham is an amateur radio operator and a person who has one of the most exciting hobbies in existence.
Harry started his hobby-career as far back as 1937 and
has, since that time, become one of the most popular and
respected amateur radio operators in this section of the
country.
He first built a 75-watt transmitter with which he contacted
many new friends over the air waves. He has since
rebuilt his transmitter several times, simplified it and made
it more compact as well as increasing its power to the legal
limit of 1,000 watts set by the Federal Communications
Commission.
With today's elaborate amateur radio set-up there is a
series of ham "nets" across the country which can be used
for communications in times of disaster, such as floods,
hurricanes and heavy storms when ordinary methods of
communications sometimes fail. Harry, for instance, was
able to transmit important high water conditions from Berlin
to Lewiston, Maine about three years ago when this
area of the country was flooded. The information was instrumental in reducing the flood damage in the Lewiston
area.
One of Harry's more pleasant activities in connection with
his radio hobby is making contact with servicemen the world
over so that they may talk person to person with their folks
in Berlin. When questioned about it. Harry reported that
he laughs and cries with an average of three or four Berlin
parents each month who are overjoyed with the opportunity
of talking with their sons in far-off lands. And to Harry, . . .
it's a pleasure to be of some help.
Harry Gilbert, local radio amateur operator, is shown
here preparing to do "on the air."
He loved our house and built us a merry go round, a brick and granite gas fire place, we loved the steaks cooked out there with corn on the cob and of course mom's deserts.
He was full of life and we constantly had the company of other ham radio operators. Always a good time with children always welcome.
He retired in 1966 and bought a 42 foot cabin cruiser to spend summers on Lake Winnaspauke, they were great times, unfortunately he died a year later of a massive heart attack.
He was lot of fun, a bigger kid than his kids, he always came home from work everyday for lunch and would relax in the backyard. He was often called into work when one of the machines was down as he was very mechanically inclined, and actually designed and help build two of the companies paper making machines. During strikes at the mill he was the only man who could cross the picket line without issue. The men respected his position as he was very vocal to the owners about safety concerns and the dangers of the men faced every day, and he well respected theirs, it was a code of honor between them.
He loved my mother and he loved his mother, he was devestated when Grammy Gilbert died. He was a good man. He was honest, had integrity and always did the right thing no matter what the outcome would be. He always said when we went out, remember you are taking my name with you when you go. We got the message.
You are missed Dad.
