It is with deep regret that I announce the passing of long time SOTA Activator & Chaser W2SE Bruce Babcock. Bruce passed away yesterday (3/1) at Hackensack Hospital after an illness. Bruce was the # 1 Chaser in the W2 Association with over 35,000 chaser points, although it does not appear that Bruce had been logging on the SOTA website since 2020 so I am sure his final stats were probably closer to 40,000. Thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Brian N2BTD
Ugh, more bad news 
RIP Bruce - hope to QSO with you again in the next life.
many pleasant exchanges with Bruce, always glad to hear him calling. Very sorry to see this news, miss him in the pile-upsā¦ fred kt5x
Bruce was my #1 Chaser with 737 QSOās logged. We became friends after meeting at Hamvention a few years back. We texted and talked on the phone regularly and he especially enjoyed getting āFirst RFā when I activated a new one. He would listen for me on all bands and he gave me quite a few NJ contacts on 10 and 12 meters. He always texted āSafe hike downā after I was QRT and on the tougher hikes he would check in later to make sure I was ok. When I found out he was in the hospital a couple of weeks ago, he dismissed it as a āwork in progressā. Iām sure going to miss hearing āW2SEā in the pileups.
Sad and shocking news Iām very sorry to read about.
Many times I heard Bruce chasing on 20m CW and he actually chased me several times.
Iāll miss him.
My condolences to Bruceās family and friends.
73,
Guru
Thatās more sad news. I had so many email exchanges with Bruce over the years. He was a brilliant monitor of the SOTA services and was always there reporting problems or issues so we could fix things sooner.
I donāt think we ever had a QSO but I my email inbox will be different now I know there wont be any more message or suggestions from him.
Condolences to friends and family.
Yes indeed, more sad news and another prominent character now missing from SOTA who will be missed by many. My condolences to his family and friends.
Gerald G4OIG / G8CXK
Sorry to hear that Bruce W2SE is now silent key, my condolences to his family.
Jimmy M0HGY
Bruce chased me many times on my activations in the Appalachian Mountains. RIP, OM.
Very sorry to hear this. Condolences to Bruceās family and friends. Iāve only been activating a couple of years, but Bruce was a regular and familiar call. Rest in peace Bruce.
Ken, W4KAC
Prayers and condolences for Bruceās family. Was always great to hear him in the chase and to get him in my logs. He will be missed.
73 Gary
Iām sorry to hear this. Heās in my SOTA log 62 times and one that I always anticipated working. He will be missed and I only wish I had known him better in person.
Charlie NJ7V
Sad, Sad news. Bruce is in my log many, many times. He will be missed.
final 73ās my friendā¦
Pete
WA7JTM
Iām really sad to hear this news concerning Bruce. I got to meet and know Bruce while at the Hamvention over the years and enjoyed hearing him both in the chaser pack plus working him when we were activating a summit. He will be missed for sure.
Gary A. - W0MNA
Once more, weāve lost one of our SOTA family special people. Many times Bruce would chase me and work me on several different bands just to let me know how prorogation was going. And if he couldnāt hear me, Iād get a text asking to go to this or that band and try. I often mistook his call in a pileup for a S2S which Iām sure tickled him to no end. We will still listen for his call and maybe even answer it one day on that Supreme Summit, GOD/-001. Dean ~ K2JB
Thatās Bruce to a tee! But in my case it would be all sorts of things heād tried and observed about the servers and software. I never met him or spoke to him, just the back and forth via email and the more I read the more I know I will miss someone Iāve never even met.
So sad to hear this. Met Bruce at Hamvention also and he would almost always shout
out āHi Karenā on 60m SSB after I worked someone. Sometimes chat after the activator left
the frequency. Such a friendly, nice guy. Sure will miss him and hearing his call. 
He
would also make sure he got to work a bunch of us on Monte Sano Mtn in Huntsville, AL in August. Condolences to his family. RIP Bruce
Very sad to hear this. I had the pleasure of meeting Bruce one time over Zoom, but wish I had the chance to get to know him better. My condolences to his friends and family.
Jonathan
This is sad indeed. Bruce was there for most of my activations for many years, and I will miss him. Like a few other activators, I mistook his call for an S2S several times.
I just re-read his QRZ page - itās very interesting, and clearly he loved SOTA. I could feel it ever time he called!
73 Carey/George
KX0R
Liz and I never felt like our logs were complete unless we heard Bruce. Even though I didnāt get the chance to meet him in person, we became friends. During some of Lizās tough times he called me with words of comfort and gave me good council. As you know, I lost dear Liz on February 26th and now friend Bruce passed away only three days later.
May he rest in peace,
Ron, NR3E, in body
Liz, K1LIZ, in spirit