SCTE In Memoriam

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Sally Lynn Kinsman of Bothell, Washington, who passed away on August 18, 2023.  Sally built her own system design company- Kinsman Design Associates and was the company president until she retired. In 2009, Sally was a groundbreaker becoming the first woman to be inducted into the SCTE Hall of Fame. She was also the first woman to be elected to SCTE’s board and the first female SCTE Member of the Year.   Sally was a member of the SCTE Circle of Eagles,. She was awarded the Chairmen's Award in 2007 and the Women in Technology Award in 1999. Sally was an avid SCTE Supporter and an SCTE Senior Member and Emeritus Member.  Sally will always be remembered as generous with her knowledge, acting as a mentor to many in the cable industry.  

SCTE mourns the loss of Ronald “Ron” Wayne Wolfe, 63, who died in Aurora, Colo., Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020, after a month-long fight with COVID-19. At the time of his death, Ron was senior director of Engineering & Architecture, in Charter Communication’s Technology and Engineering Center. His four decades of work experience included 18 years at Time Warner Cable, and several years each at Home Network, BigBand Networks and Aurora Networks. Ron has been a Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) member for more than 30 years, receiving the organization’s Member of the Year Award in 1992. He served on the board of directors of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of SCTE and is an active member of the SCTE Three Gigahertz task force. He is also a longtime member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and has twice been part of teams that received Technical Emmys from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He was inducted as a Cable Television Pioneer. Ron was vibrant, full of life and loved meeting new friends wherever he went. He was a connoisseur of wine and music, and had an infectious smile and way of making every moment special.

Credits: The Central Wisconsin News was a source for this memorial piece

SCTE mourns the loss of Mr. Ralph Roberts, Comcast founder and chairman emeritus, who died Thursday, June 18, 2015, of natural causes in Philadelphia at the age of 95. Upon his death, Comcast stated, “During his more than five decades at Comcast, Ralph became one of the most well-regarded executives in America. He was widely respected and admired for his visionary leadership and spirit, his passion for the business, and his deep sense of integrity and courtesy. Ralph was a born entrepreneur, a visionary businessman, a philanthropist, and a wonderful human being. Ralph built Comcast into one of America’s greatest companies, and his vision and spirit have been at the heart of Comcast and our culture for 50 years. He will be truly missed. Ralph’s greatest love was his family, and our deepest sympathies go to his wife, Suzanne, and the entire Roberts family.” Among his myriad, distinguished contributions to society, Roberts was committed to the fight against cancer and, in 2006, along with his wife, Suzanne, and his family, helped establish the Roberts Proton Therapy Center at Penn Medicine. In tribute to Mr. Roberts, SCTE President and CEO Mark Dzuban said, “Ralph Roberts had the foresight to recognize the potential of cable and the work ethic to bring his vision to life, but what truly set him apart were his integrity, his gentlemanly manner, and the value he placed on giving back to the industry and the community. All of us are better off for having had Ralph in our midst. Our hearts are with those he loved so much: his family, his friends, and, of course, his Comcast ‘family.’”

SCTE mourns the loss of longtime member Mr. Wayne Sudberry, who passed away suddenly on Thursday, July 10, 2014. Mr. Sudberry was a system support engineer III with Cox Communications, his employer for more than 32 years, and resided in Fort Smith, Ark. He was an SCTE member since 1986, when he became and remained involved with the SCTE Ozark Mountain Chapter. The chapter’s president, Brandon Andrews, also of Cox Communications, said Mr. Sudberry’s commitment and service were "an integral part of our Cox community and how we’ve served our customers."

SCTE mourns the death of Mr. Steven Johnson, who passed away suddenly on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014. Mr. Johnson was a Technical Trainer II for Cox Communications in Oklahoma. He was treasurer for the SCTE Sooner State Chapter, active on the national level in Cable-Tec Games, and a past member of the SCTE Certification Subcommittee. Mr. Johnson was the 2005 SCTE Chapter Member of the Year, and he was a certified SCTE Broadband Premises Installer (BPI). A military veteran, Mr. Johnson was an SCTE member since 1995. "He was the cornerstone and backbone of the Sooner State Chapter," said Dane Huston of Omega Broadband. 

Mr. Karl W. Poirier, an SCTE member since 1977 and an SCTE Senior Member, died suddenly on Friday, Aug. 23, 2013. Mr. Poirier is perhaps best remembered for being elected the inaugural Director-At-Large Canada, in SCTE Board of Directors Election 2002. He worked for CableServ at the time. He was quite active as a member of the SCTE Interface Practices Subcommittee (IPS), a component of the ANSI-accredited SCTE Standards Program. An instrumental part of the original SCTE Ontario Chapter in the ’70s, Mr. Poirier initiated re-establishing the Ontario Chapter, becoming one of its founding members. 

Mr. John P. Weeks Sr. passed away Thursday, April 18, 2013, at the age of 87. He had started in the fledgling cable television industry in the early 1950s going t.o work for Jerrold as a field engineer building turnkey systems in the Southeast. He was involved in the industry as well as SCTE from its earliest days until his retirement in the late 1980s. He worked for a number of companies in the industry before founding John Weeks Enterprises in 1974. Mr. Weeks was a true believer in education and training prior to the founding of the Society and was active in several SCTE chapters throughout the Southeast. He is survived by four daughters and a son.

Willie Battest Jr, a resident of Pinellas Park Fl. Passed away Thursday November 10, 2011 at his home. Willie grew up in Gainesville, Fl. as a diehard Gators fan. He served in the US Army from 1975 -1995 and retired in Columbus, Ga. where he hired on in early 1998 with Knology, Inc. In his professional career with Knology in Columbus, Ga., and in Pinellas County, Fla. he was a Maintenance Technician, then promoted to a Service Supervisor, then a Network Supervisor. Willie was a devoted family man. Willie was very dedicated to whatever he was doing He loved to work. Willie was a member of the of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers. Willie loved sports, and there was no greater fan of the Florida Gators than Willie. He is survived by his sister, his two daughters, and a son.