Dick Pooley

As the first president of the Mountain Rescue Association, Dick Pooley has spent his life in the mountains climbing, performing rescues, and skiing. Today, he puts in considerable time assisting in the building of ham radio towers, as he has had a lifelong love of the airwaves.

		Following a career in broadcast, and 30 more years in the hi-tech industry, Dick retired to Brush Prairie, Washington, where he lives with his wife Carolyn. They met some twelve years ago while they were both assisting in the assembly and erection of a six tower "super" ham radio station. Though retired, Dick remains connected to his passion by operating his ham radio station, conversing with colleagues worldwide, and maintaining his 80- and 120-foot tall radio towers.
At the beginning of 2001, Dick had a routine bi-annual echocardiogram to check on a heart murmur condition that his doctors had been following for more than 10 years. This procedure, along with an angiogram, confirmed that Dick’s aortic valve was down to less than 20% blood flow, and it was time to have the valve replaced. In July of 2002, at age 81, Dick received a Carpentier-Edwards PERIMOUNT aortic valve. His heart valve replacement surgery was performed by Dr. Albert Krause at the Southwest Washington Medical Center. With his energy restored, Dick returned to skiing, tower climbing and conversing via his W7HUY call sign. Dick hopes that more patients can read stories like his, or talk to others who have also had heart valve surgery, to lower the anxiety that is present when one is facing such an operation. Having that confidence going into surgery is key, Dick believes, and he is proof that you can have successful surgery and return to a high quality of life.