Following is a eulogy for the late Don Ecker which was submitted by Sergio Radossi of the Hudson River Fisherman''s Association Fisherman and Hudson River Fisherman's Association Original Don Ecker's name can be found alongside Pete Barrett, Vic Alasio, Matt Staropoli, Dom Perrone and Doc Helden at the H.R.F.A.'s N.J. Chapter's the first organizational meeting in Rockleigh, NJ in 1969.  Don was an early advocate of the Hudson River from sharing fishing techniques and the "secret" spots to fighting for clean water and preventing fish kills on the river's power plants.  As an outdoor columnist for the Record newspaper, Don Ecker was able to (and did) spread the word on the fishing, "how to" and environmental "not to".    Don actively fished the Hudson from Croton to the Battery well before it became known as an East Coast hot spot.In addition to being an outdoors writer, Don Ecker was an avid fly fisherman.  He was a member of the both the Sparta, NJ chapter of TU and the Theodore Gordon Fly Fishermen.  Don was also a member of the Metropolitan Outdoor Writer's Association.  (Those of you who remember newspapers, will remember how important these writers were to our sport)Finally Don Ecker founded the East Jersey Chapter of Trout Unlimited in 1971.  The EJTU continues strong today and does the HRFA.I was fortunate to have known and fished with Don.  He helped to accelerate my knowledge of NY Harbor, the Hudson and water of the NY Bight.  When I was elected as HRFA President, Don Ecker was both a mentor and friend.  Without friends like Don, Danny Bontemps, George Graf, Pete Barrett and others, the task of rebuilding the HRFA in the late 70's would have been much more difficult. Many of today's HRFA membership may not be familiar with Don Ecker, but we all owe him a big thank you.