By Leif Ottosen, OZ1LO

I am sorry to report the tragic death of Svatava Visser, OZ7YL.

According to a local newspaper and police report on the evening of 4^th December 2023 just after dark, Svata was out for a walk with her dog, when she crossed the road at an intersection near her QTH and was killed by a car she obviously had overlooked. Sadly she became the 3^rd out of our 500 members to be killed in accidents during 2023.

Svata was born in the former Czechoslovakia in 1945. Around 1970 she was very active on 80m CW with her OK2YL call. I had several long rag chews with her and over all there was a lot of CW activity in the evenings in Europe on that band. I remember listening to her many QSOs with OZ4FF (SK) and especially with Eddy, PAØDDT. She joined FOC in May1969.

Like many Czech citizens she hated the communist regime and decided to try to flee and she succeeded to do that through Poland and eventually ended up on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, where she knew OZ4FF had his QTH.

Svata had a brother, OK2BDQ who was also very active at that time on 80m CW. He had graduated from university and had a good paying job but because Svata had fled he was fired and had to sweep streets for a living.

As far as I remember from telephone talks with OZ4FF it was a surprise to Karsten when she rang his door bell. Of course he invited her in and she stayed with his family for several months.

PAØDDT moved to Denmark, where they got married and settled down in the town of Alleroed, north of Copenhagen on the main Danish island.

Eddy got the call OZ6DT and Svata OZ7YL. She later became a Danish citizen. They made a living out of being a dealer of radio xtals produced by a Dutch factory called ESKA, as far as I remember from ads in our EDR monthly ham radio magazine.

It is a bit strange but none out of us few present Danish members has ever met her personally. OX3XR, Peter was for a good number of years living in the same town and has told me he had tried to contact her. He put his QSL card with a note in her mailbox but his message was unanswered.

After a number of happy years, the marriage slowly fell apart and Eddy left Denmark and moved to Vietnam, where he is active as XV1T.

Svata moved back to Bornholm Island where she rented an apartment on a rural country estate where she lived single with her beloved dog. She kept her radio and was active until her death. She would often call the Danish FOC members for a short QSO.

I know that her brother from time to time had visited her to help with technical and antenna problems. According to his QRZ.com webpage he has spent summer holidays with his sister and been active portable from her station.

RIP Svata