An Amateur Radio Legend is gone
Every Silent Key is a loss, but the impact of losing John Kanode N4MM has rippled far beyond the Shenandoah Valley Amateur Radio Club’s clubhouse walls into and throughout the national and international amateur radio community. He was a legend in so many ways: his dedication to the hobby, his service as an ARRL officer and Lifetime Member, his on-air presence and hundreds of prestigious awards, and his faithful and regular participation in amateur radio events from club meetings to VE sessions to flea markets to hamfests to hamventions and so much more.
Everyone who has known John has an N4MM story. He could be ornery, irascible, hilarious, and opinionated. But no one ever doubted his dedication to the hobby, his package preparation and encouragement of new hams at the VE sessions, and his twice-a-month ARRL updates.
A Life of Service
John Cadwallader Kanode, 88, of Boyce, Virginia died Wednesday, January 13, 2026 at his residence.
John was born August 17, 1937 in Clarke County, Virginia, the son of the late John Ott Kanode and Frances Cadwallader Kanode. He is a graduate of Handley High School in Winchester and Crei Electrical Institute in Washington, DC.
Kanode served in the US Air Force, and worked several years with Sandia Corporation in New Mexico, retiring from IBM in 1993.
First licensed in 1952, Kanode served on the Board of Directors of ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio, for 21 years, first as Roanoke Division Vice Director, then Director, and Vice President. He was a member of the ARRL Maxim Society (President Class), a Life Member, and was named ARRL Honorary Vice President in 2023.
He belonged to several other important amateur radio organizations: QCWA (Quarter Century Wireless Association), AMSAT (The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation), INDEXA (International DX Association) and IARC (International Radio Club of America). He attained DXCC Honor Roll, the DXCC Challenge Award, CQ DX Hall of Fame in 2000, and in 2025 he earned the latest ARRL award, the DXCC Trident.
He was too young to have been a founding member of the Shenandoah Valley Amateur Radio Club, but he was the longest-serving member at the time of his death and rarely missed a meeting or club event.
He held virtually every top award available to amateur radio operators from nearly every nation in the world. In 1984, Kanode received the ARRL Roanoke Division Special Service Award. He also served as manager of the W4/K4/N4 ARRL QSL Bureau, and as a Volunteer Examiner (VE) he had 223 VE sessions to his credit. He was a member of the Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA), AMSAT – The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, the International DX Association (INDEXA), and the International Radio Club of America (IRCA). He also belonged to the North Shenandoah DX Association, the National Capitol DX Association, and the Potomac Valley Radio Club.
John was among the earliest recipients (either 16th or 17th person to receive it) worldwide of the Arne Trossman Award, a rare international honor bestowed by CQ magazine and widely regarded at the time as one of amateur radio’s highest distinctions. Named after a Pacific Coast radio pioneer, the award was presented to him by then New Mexico Governor Edward L. Mechem.
John also served his community as a member of the Clarke County Ruritan Club.
He is survived by his cousins, Harry Marshall Kable and wife, Carol, R. Tyree Kable and daughter, Natasha Fogle, Mark Kable and wife, Lisa and their son, Jake, Marcia Barrett and husband, Russell, Sandra Kaye Kuykendall and husband, Troy, and Robert Anders.
A memorial service will be held 11:00 A.M. Tuesday, January 27, 2026 at Enders & Shirley Funeral Home Chapel, Berryville, Virginia. Burial will follow in Green Hill Cemetery, Berryville. If you plan to attend the gathering after the funeral, please let Tom Sherwood know so he can give the family an approximate head count.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Clarke County Ruritan Club, P.O. Box 1167, Berryville, VA 22611 or Shenandoah Valley Amateur Radio Club, P.O. Box 2273, Winchester, VA 22604.
John, we’ll miss you. Rest in peace.
Special thanks also to the tribute on the ARRL website for information included in this memorial.
