[UPDATED 2016-03-15 1536 UTC] Well-known QSL manager for DX stations and a former manager of the Third Call Area QSL Bureau Mary Ann Crider, WA3HUP, of Duncannon, Pennsylvania, died on March 12 after a period of failing health. An ARRL member, she was 91. DX chasers during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s likely received QSL cards from DX stations for which she handled QSLing chores.

In 2005, the ARRL Executive Committee voted unanimously to name Crider the recipient of ARRL President’s Award for her contributions to the cause of international goodwill through her long service as a QSL manager and as manager of the ARRL Third Call Area Incoming QSL Bureau. When she stepped down, the National Capitol DX Association (NCDXA) took over the bureau, with noted DXer Fred Laun, K3ZO, at the helm. At the time, Laun cited Crider’s “encyclopedic knowledge of DXCC entities and call sign prefixes…built by her work in the trenches, as illustrated by her DXCC confirmed total of 360 entities.”

Before she became the bureau’s manager, Crider served as a sorter for 11 years. Among the DX operators she served as QSL manager was King Hussein of Jordan, JY1, and she made several trips to Jordan to visit him.

Crider was licensed as a Novice in 1967. Her late husband was W3GE (ex-W3HTO).

A service is set for Saturday, March 19. — Thanks to Glenn Kurzenknabe, K3SWZ, Kay Craigie, N3KN, and to The Daily DX