Leiper Patterson Read, Jr., of Cranberry Lake, New York, passed away on May 8 at his winter home near Foley, Alabama, after a brief illness. Born in Frostburg, Maryland on January 28, 1921 to Ella B. Read and Leiper P. Read, Sr., he spent most of his youth around eastern Pennsylvania's coal mining region, where his father worked as a mechanic for the mines. From his earliest years "Buddy" took an avid interest in radio technology and obtained his amateur radio operator's license in 1938. A 1939 graduate of Pottsville High School, he served in the Army Air Corps from 1940 to 1945 as a Tech Sergeant, distinguishing himself as an outstanding and inventive radio technician for numerous types of aircraft, including B-24 bombers and the P-51s of the 359th Fighter Group stationed in England.