Howard Cripe, N0AZ, a member of the Santa Fe Trail Amateur Radio Club, was elected to be the president of the board for the Olathe Ensor Foundation when the board held its first meeting of 2025 the evening of Monday, January 20 at the downtown library in Olathe.
Howard, who had been the board's vice president, replaces longtime club member Joe Krout, KR0UT SK, who died December 7 at the age of 66.
Howard and the other members of the board, Secretary Marty Peters, KE0PEZ, Treasurer Tom Apalenek, WA2IVD, John Gray, KD0VRS, and Rick Nichols, also decided to add former club President Jeff Darby, KS0JD, to the board and subsequently elected him to serve as its vice president. The moves accomplished two things: filling the vacancy on the board created by Joe's passing and securing a replacement for Howard.
The Olathe Ensor Foundation is a non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) status and was formed in recent years to recognize and preserve the rich legacy of Olathe's Ensor family through its support and promotion of Ensor Park and Museum. The family included amateur radio pioneers Marshall, W9BSP, and Loretta, W9UA, Ensor, brother and sister. Marshall also taught manual arts at Olathe High School (now Olathe North) for close to 50 years. Meanwhile, Loretta was basically in charge of the 120-acre family farm along 183rd Street.