Brown County Skywarn Coordinator Bill Fraser passed away unexpectedly Friday night at his home in Brownwood.  Fraser coordinated the activities of Brown County’s SkyWarn weather spotters in times inclement weather with the National Weather Service (NWS) in San Angelo.

Bill Fraser had been in failing health in recent months and had been hospitalized several times for respiratory complications.

Those who have scanners and monitor the weather spotters on the 146.940 Brownwood Ham Radio Repeater may recognize his call sign, KD5HEJ.  He also authored the weekly “Earth and Space Report” on the BARC club’s weekly net on Tuesday evenings.

Brownwood Amateur Radio Club President Rich Dugger has been training with Fraser to assist the duties as the area SkyWarn Coordinator.  Dugger has been acting as the assistant coordinator in recent months.

“Brown County and the entire State of Texas has lost a valuable asset at the passing of Bill Fraser, not only as a competent ham radio operator and SkyWarn Coordinator, but as a dear and trusted friend. Bill Fraser’s east Brownwood digital weather station is state-of-the-art. It’s linked directly to the National Weather Service network in San Angelo,” said Dugger. “Bill was instrumental in initiating the Automated Position Reporting System (APRS) in Brown County. That system allows the National Weather Service to pinpoint the location of each individual weather spotter utilizing the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) network satellites.”

Dugger added, “We’ll never be able to replace Bill, or his dedication to protecting the area residents during inclement weather, but the Brown County SkyWarn mission will continue.”

Visitation will be held 6-8pm Thursday at Blaylock Funeral Home in Brownwood. Graveside services are scheduled for at 2:30pm Friday at the Elmwood Park Cemetery in Abilene.