Glenn Jones was remembered in poignant, often humorous anecdotes at a memorial service attended by hundreds of people in Denver on Wednesday (July 29) who came to honor the pioneering cable-television and education entrepreneur who died on July 7 at age 85.
The elegant Ellie Caulkins Opera House was a fitting venue to honor the Jones Intercable founder, who was known for his snappy and formal attire even at a time when casual Friday became an everyday event.
Speakers including former United Cable honcho Fred Vierra and former Group W Cable CEO Daniel Ritchie, as well as Jones’ brother, Neil, and Robinson Dairy co-CEO Dick Robinson. Each shared touching and funny stories about Jones’s varied life, attendees said. Vierra recalled Jones’s early life in the Navy and told funny stories about Jones’s sense of humor. Robinson touched on Jones’s impeccable dressy style. A video montage of tributes was also played during the memorial service, attendees said.
A cadre of industry veterans including Mediacom Communications chairman and CEO Rocco Commisso, Cablevision Systems founder and chairman Charles Dolan, former American Television & Communications CEO Trygve Myhren, Multichannel News founder Paul Maxwell and former Tele-Communications Inc. COO J.C. Sparkman were among those in attendance.
There was “a lot of laughter and very poignant moments,” said longtime industry friend Sam Klosterman, a business development executive at SNL Kagan, who said the gathering felt a bit like a "chairman's reception" at a cable-industry convention. “Glenn was a man who lived life to the fullest with a drive for business and a kindness felt by all who had encounters with him. “
“Glenn was a true maverick and a man who lived at least five full, and extraordinary lives at once. Any of them would have been impressive in and of themselves. But he did it all in one lifetime,” Lela Cocoros, a long-time cable veteran and current digital media executive, said. “[It was] nice to see so many longtime cable friends and colleagues, though hard to accept the loss of yet another industry visionary.” (RELATED: Remembering Glenn Jones, a life in photos.)
At a gathering after the memorial at the nearby Seawell Grand Ballroom, guests received two editions of Jones's poetry, including this one written in March 2013:
Master Diver's Funeral
When I go down to my grave in the sea,
I'll want "old glory" spread over me.
And I'll want eight sailors in dress blues
With clean white hats and black shined shoes.
And I'll want the crew to stand and look,
While the captain reads from his old black book.
Then the rifles will crack and their smoke will rise,
And they’ll slide me over the side.
Then I'll sink free,
To the depths of the sea,
No bubbles on my last dive.
Jones is survived by his partner of 34 years, Dianne Eddolls; daughters Suzanne Jones and Christine Marocco; son John Paul; three grandsons; his sister Ruth Terrian and brother Neil Jones.
