Kenneth Sloan Gunter

SAN ANGELO Kenneth Sloan Gunter, entrepreneur, cable-TV pioneer, visionary, historic preservationist, pilot, MENSA member, ham radio operator and loving husband passed away Monday, July 21, at the age of 80 after a short illness. We are sure he flew high above the clouds into heaven on the wings of a Beechcraft Bonanza airplane. Kenneth was born Sept. 25, 1933, into the loving arms of E.C. and Cleo (Bennett) Gunter and his adoring older sister, June. Kenneth attended San Angelo local schools, Santa Rita Elementary and Central High School. He graduated from Rice Institute with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1958. After graduating from Rice, Kenneth moved back to San Angelo and partnered with his dad in creating the first cable television business. E.C. owned the original and only Magnavox, Zenith, RCA television dealership in San Angelo for many years. His father had been told they could sell a lot more televisions if they could get more channels piped into San Angelo and surrounding communities. Kenneth who had always liked tinkering with electronics decided to join his father and together they created the first cable company in San Angelo, Texas, CableVision. Kenneth was responsible for the managing of the technical and engineering aspects of the business. Because cable television was a new concept all the technical and engineering aspects of the business were done by trial and error. Then in 1961, San Angelo's, International Cablevision became the first cable company in the country to go public and be traded on Wall Street. Kenneth and his cable partners were highly respected in the country for their vision and skilled management of their companies. Their company was called the "Harvard" of the cable industry. They were the first cable-TV with its own dedicated engineering laboratory (staffed with former Bell Labs engineers); first totally independent quality assurance department, reporting directly to the home office in San Angelo, on all their cable systems picture quality and reliability. In 1975, they installed the first satellite dishes in the cable industry and partnered with RCA (who launched the satellite) and HBO (who transmitted "Thrilla in Manila," the famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, live from the Philippines. This was the first time cable-TV companies received programming from satellites which, of course, changed the industry forever. This was the turning point of the cable industry from just providing clearer local signals to expanded programming choices. They soon afterwards led the industry to carry Ted Turner's CNN, and TBS Network on their cable systems. They were the first cable company to commit dollars to a new concept CSPAN. With their financial support CSPAN became a reality. CSPAN has honored Ken by naming their tech center after him. Ken's company also recognized the value of sports programming and inked the first exclusive contract to televise all Madison Square Gardens sporting events on their cable systems. This soon grew into USA Network. Kenneth's contributions to the cable industry were enormous. He received in 1979, the Society of Cable Television Engineers Member of the Year. In 1980, he became a Cable TV Pioneer. He was awarded the Engineering Award for Outstanding Achievement in Operations in 1980, as well as the Outstanding Committee Chairman of the National Cable Television Association in 1980. In 1990, Kenneth received the John Mankin Award for his distinguished service and leadership as a pioneer in cable television. The San Angelo Chamber of Commerce awarded Kenneth the Chairman's Award in 2005 for outstanding contributions to the community. Kenneth at the young age of 12 got his amateur radio license W5ZJ. He was for years the youngest person to have an amateur radio license. That interest in radio carried on and Kenneth put up the first FM radio station in San Angelo in 1964, KWLW. Because automobiles at that time had only AM capability Kenneth created a box that you put under your dash of your car so you could pick up the FM radio station. In the late 1980's before most people had even heard of email Kenneth created an email system within his cable organization. Daily reports using email were expected to insure the organization at all levels knew what was going on. Kenneth believed strongly that email was going to become the future of communication. Kenneth was also passionate about historic preservation. In the mid-70's he started the first Cable-TV Museum which is now housed at The National Cable Center in Denver. In the late 1970's, when he saw many buildings collapsing on East Concho Avenue he made a decision to save the buildings. His preservation and restoration projects include 26, 24, 22, 20, 18 and 18-1/2 E. Concho Ave. His efforts set the stage for showing others what could be done with these old building. His efforts helped to stabilize the historic business district on Concho Avenue. He went on to restore and save the Wendland warehouse building at 30 W. Concho Ave., which is currently used as an artist studio. He also restored and registered the building at 18 W. Concho Ave. The covered parking lot at his office showcases the feeding stalls of the original Nasworthy horse stalls. One of his last projects was restoring the old Historic Bath House, Bed and Breakfast in Christoval. Following a trip to Florida where he saw historic districts use trees to create streetscape concepts he brought back the idea of planting trees on Concho Avenue. Those trees still exist today. In 1981, he was recipient of Historic San Angelo Inc.'s first preservation-restoration award. He was awarded the Anice B. Read Award of Excellence in Community Heritage Development and Dedication to Downtown Revitalization in 2010. Kenneth was preceded in death by his parents; and only sister June Morrow. He is survived by his wife, Brenda; and his sister's children, Ann Beck (Richard) of Austin, David Morrow of Huntsville and John Morrow (Connie) of Midland. He is also survived by Brenda's family: mother-in-law Verla Moser; sisters Sheila Johnson (Dean), Linda Latham (Brad) and Leisha Carpenter (Wayne), all of western Kansas, sister Reba Mills (Joe) of Sugar Land, Texas; brothers Dan Moser (Christy) and Ken Moser (Pam) of western Kansas; and many nieces and nephews. Family visitation will be from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 28, at Johnson's Funeral Home. A life celebration will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, at Miss Hatties Restaurant, 26 E. Concho Ave. Burial will be in Fairmount Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to Downtown San Angelo Inc., 24 W. Concho Ave., San Angelo, TX 76903. Family and friends may sign an online register book at johnsons-funeralhome.com.