AT&T Vice President-Federal Relations Kent Wells died Friday, according to the company. Wells, 66, was at home in Alexandria, Virginia, and died after having multiple myeloma, says an online obituary. Wells and his wife, Debbie, started in 2009 the Multiple Myeloma Charity Classic, an annual golf and tennis event that says it raised over $1 million for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Survivors in addition to this wife include two sons, two granddaughters and his brother.

Mark Victor Rosenker, 73, former National Transportation Safety Board chair, died of brain cancer Saturday in Alexandria, Virginia. A retired Air Force Reserve officer, Rosenker was director of the White House Military Office under President George W. Bush and was traveling with the president on Air Force One on Sept. 11, 2001. He was longtime vice president-public affairs at the Electronic Industries Alliance, the trade group that preceded CTA, and was a transportation safety consultant to CBS News. CTA President Gary Shapiro praised Rosenker as a “close friend and valued colleague.” Wife survives. Donations may be made to the Tunnels to Towers Foundation for Sept. 11 heroes or the TAPS organization to support military survivors. A memorial service will be streamed live Friday at 11 a.m. on the Facebook page of the National Funeral Home in Falls Church, Virginia. Burial with full military honors will follow at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery.

Ken Robinson, 75 and longtime communications lawyer and publisher of Telecommunications Policy Review, has died. He was found dead in his Arlington, Virginia, residence Wednesday when a representative of the building checked on him after friends became concerned he hadn't published his weekly newsletter, said Columbia Institute for Tele-Information director Robert Atkinson, who requested the check. Telecommunications Policy Review was widely known within communications policy circles for its articles on telecom, plus movie reviews, gardening advice and more. Robinson was a top aide 1989-1993 to Al Sikes, a Republican FCC chairman, and later consulted for BellSouth (now AT&T). Before the FCC, employers included DOJ. He's survived by three sisters and a brother. Local police hadn't confirmed details about the death.

Neil Dellar, 61 and an attorney in the FCC Office of General Counsel, died Thursday. Dellar spent 20 years at the agency, where he was one of the original members of the OGC’s Transaction Team and worked on fraud and bankruptcy issues. “He was known throughout the Commission as the go-to person on issues of corporate law,” emailed FCC General Counsel Tom Johnson. Survivors include his wife, son and mother.

Sumner Redstone, 97, chairman emeritus of ViacomCBS and CEO of controlling shareholder National Amusements, died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home. He was executive chairman of Viacom’s board for nearly 30 years and was the content company’s CEO from 1996 until 2005, said ViacomCBS. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called Redstone, famous for the quote “content is king,” a “longtime legend.” Redstone was “a brilliant visionary, operator and dealmaker, who single-handedly transformed a family-owned drive-in theater company into a global media portfolio,” said ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish. Survivors include his two children.

Herschel Abbott, a longtime telecom lawyer and advocate, died Sunday at home in New Orleans at age 78. At the time of his death, which followed a lengthy illness, he was special counsel at the Jones Walker law firm, which grew significantly over his tenures there. So recalled Managing Partner William Hines, hired in 1979 by lawyers at the firm including Abbott. Later, Abbott was an attorney and executive at BellSouth, including president of the telco's Louisiana operations. Before the company became AT&T, he also helped lead the carrier's governmental affairs in Washington. After retiring from AT&T, he returned to Jones Walker. Abbott was heavily involved in charitable activities, and was honored for that by The Times-Picayune. He's survived by his wife, two kids and four grandchildren. More details of his life are here. No arrangements have been made at this time.

JC Sparkman, 87 and a longtime cable entrepreneur, died Thursday, said representatives of Liberty Global, where Sparkman was on the board. After working for an Idaho equipment distributor that also built cable systems, he joined cable gearmaker Jerrold Electronics. In 1969, Tele-Communications Inc. founder Bob Magness hired Sparkman to run TCI's operations, when it had 56,000 customers. By his retirement, TCI had some 19 million subscribers, and then was bought by AT&T (and later by Comcast). Sparkman was on other corporate boards and was a 2015 Cable TV Hall of Fame inductee. He's survived by his wife, two daughters and a son, his sister, and by several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Donations in his memory can go to the JC and Dolores Sparkman Cancer Fund, Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation.

LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition founder Mike Gravino, 69, died last week at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, his partner said. He had pancreatic cancer and had been planning to go to hospice but died sooner than expected, said his life partner, Vicki Lancaster. In recent days, Gravino had emailed us about retiring from the low-power TV group (see 2005290061). He invested in LPTV and previously helped broker airtime for such stations, those who knew him recalled Tuesday. Gravino earlier started Garbagio, a recycling business, said Lancaster. He was "a strong [LPTV] advocate" and "always began and ended every meeting with me with a smile," tweeted FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Gravino is survived by two nieces; no funeral is now planned.

John Morgan, 91, a former longtime Communications Workers of America staffer, died May 26 at home in Annapolis, Maryland, his daughter confirmed. The union government affairs official was widely known in lobbying and other Capitol Hill circles, an acquaintance recalled. Daughter Clarisse Morgan said Monday that her late father worked at CWA for about three decades. He's also survived by another daughter, three sons and his eight grandchildren, and was preceded in death by his wife. A remote memorial service will occur (see here). Contributions can be made in Morgan's honor to Community Services for Autistic Adults and Children in Montgomery Village, Maryland.

Henry Geller, 96, widely known for his stints at the FCC and NTIA, died Tuesday at around midnight. He had bladder cancer and died at home hospice, according to his wife Judy. They have a son, daughter and a grandson. Geller was the first NTIA director, and under then-Chairman Newt Minow was FCC general counsel. Even in retirement, Geller continued pushing for government and industry to be a force for good, recalled those who knew him. In that capacity, he helped represent Action for Children’s Television and gained passage of the 1990 Children’s Television Act, his wife recalled. "Henry was disappointed that his main goal never came to fruition," she emailed. "Instead of requiring commercial stations to act in the public interest, he wanted to excuse them and alternatively, allocate 1% of their advertising revenues to public TV for the funding of children’s programming." Before he resigned from all boards in 2006, he was a director of Neustar and of organizations including the now-defunct Media Access Project. Per his instructions, there's no funeral or other service planned.