Retired Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., 92, died Thursday from complications from prostate cancer. Known among colleagues as “the dean,” Dingell chaired the House Commerce Committee for a total of 18 years, and was ranking member for 12. He was among the lawmakers responsible for writing the 1996 Telecom Act. “Any ... telecommunications legislation that became law during his tenure at the helm of this Committee had his fingerprints on it,” said Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. America’s Public Television Televisions CEO Patrick Butler recalled a photo of the Earth that hung in Dingell’s office with “a caption, saying ‘Jurisdiction of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.’ This expansive view of the committee’s writ tested the boundaries of congressional power, but the chairman delighted in his role as a central figure in policy matters,” Butler said. When Dingell announced he would retire in 2015, former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell called him “a bipartisan watchdog regarding FCC process” (see 1402250056). “If you testified in front of @JohnDingell you were in for a series of yes or no questions. He wasn’t wasting time, he was getting things done,” FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted Friday. Survivors include wife Debbie, who succeeded him in the House, three children, a brother, sister and three grandchildren. Dingell will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Visitation will be Monday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m., at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center at 15801 Michigan Ave., Dearborn; a funeral mass will be Tuesday, 11 a.m., at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 22430 Michigan Ave., Dearborn. A funeral service will be held in Washington with further details to come.

Patricia Wald, 90 and the first woman to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, died Saturday in Washington, D.C., of pancreatic cancer. Appointed to the D.C. Circuit in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, Wald became its chief judge in 1986, serving until 1991. She was among the slate of initial members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Survivors include five children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Ed Reynolds, 71, an original FirstNet board member, died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer (see link for memorial and other plans). A longtime telco executive, he retired as president-network operations for Cingular Wireless (now AT&T Wireless) in January 2007 and from the FirstNet board last year. He was a former member of the executive committees of the North American GSM Alliance and CTIA and the PCIA board and had been on the FCC Network Reliability and Interoperability Council. He's survived by his wife Peggy, two daughters and six grandchildren.

Walt Wurfel, 81, NAB senior vice president-communications 1986-1997, died Thursday at a Falls Church, Virginia, assisted living facility. Wurfel’s long broadcast career included a stint as deputy press secretary in the Carter administration and as Gannett vice president-communications. Survivors include his wife Sara Fitzgerald, two sons and three grandchildren. Memorial service is at 1 p.m. Dec. 22 at Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ, 5010 Little Falls Rd., Arlington. Condolences may be emailed to his wife, sarafitz@aol.com.

James Billington, who retired as librarian of Congress in 2015, died Tuesday. He was 89. President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the Library of Congress in 1987. In bringing the LOC online, Billington initiated the National Digital Library Program. Other electronic services created under his watch included Congress.gov, eCo online copyright registration and National Jukebox, providing free streaming access to out-of-print music and spoken-word recordings. A few months before Billington announced his retirement, a GAO report criticized him and other LOC leaders for not modernizing critical LOC IT systems (see 1503310046). Before joining the LOC, Billington was a Russia scholar and taught at Princeton and Harvard before heading the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. Survivors include his wife, Marjorie, four children and 12 grandchildren.

Joe Clayton, 69, for many years the industry face and voice of the RCA brand and later CEO at Frontier Communications, Sirius Satellite Radio and Dish Network, died Saturday from complications of pancreatic cancer. CTA, which Clayton chaired during the mid-1990s, hailed him Sunday as a direct broadcast satellite “pioneer” for his role in launching RCA Digital Satellite Service receivers with DirecTV in 1994. Survivors include his wife, five children and four grandchildren. A calling is scheduled for 3-8 p.m. Thursday at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Clayton’s alma mater. A viewing is planned for 9 a.m. Friday at Barlowe Funeral Home in Bardstown, Kentucky, and an 11 a.m. funeral mass will be at the Basilica of Saint Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown.

Paul Allen, 65, co-founder of Microsoft, died Monday from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He owned Vulcan Spectrum, which was active in the 2008 wireless spectrum auction. Allen also was an early investor in AOL and invested in Charter Communications, RCN and DreamWorks SKG. He's survived by his sister, Jody.

Robert Pitofsky, FTC chairman 1995-2001, died Oct. 6. He was 88. Pitofsky directed the Consumer Protection Bureau 1970-73 and was commissioner 1978-81. He was dean of the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was dean emeritus, and retired from Arnold and Porter. When he was chairman, the FTC cleared AOL buying Time Warner. He moved the commission “toward an aggressive enforcement-based approach," said current Chairman Joe Simons. "He was a proponent of a consumer welfare standard grounded in sound economic principles.” Survivors include his wife, three children and seven grandchildren. Funeral services were Tuesday.

Joseph Flaherty, 87, former CBS senior vice president-technology and widely heralded as the “father of HDTV,” died Tuesday in Greenport, New York. Flaherty organized the first HDTV demonstrations for the Hollywood production community at the February 1981 SMPTE technical conference, and his efforts led to his appointment as planning committee chairman of the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service. Flaherty’s work made the U.S. “the first country in the world to convert to a digital HDTV system,” blogged Robert Seidel, CBS vice president-engineering and advanced technology, Wednesday. “Television viewers around the globe are still benefiting from the technology innovations of Joe Flaherty,” said Seidel. Broadcasters “have lost a friend and broadcast innovators have lost a true legend” with Flaherty’s passing, said NAB President Gordon Smith. “As broadcasters prepare to bring American consumers the wonders of Next Generation Television, we honor the life, legacy and extraordinary accomplishments of Joe Flaherty.” People around the world today “enjoy a richer TV viewing experience than ever, in no small part because of Joe's focus on excellence,” said CTA President Gary Shapiro of Flaherty, a 2009 Consumer Technology Hall of Fame inductee. Flaherty's survivors include his wife and five children. A funeral Mass is planned for 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Agnes Church in Greenport, New York, said Seidel.

Gerry Lenfest, cable television and newspaper executive, died Sunday. He was 88. The cause of death was complications from chronic illness, a family spokesperson told The Washington Post. Lenfest formed Lenfest Communications after buying two cable systems from Triangle Publications, where he had worked as a lawyer. He later sold what had become Suburban Cable to Comcast. Lenfest and his wife, Marguerite, donated their ownership of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and philly.com to The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. In addition to his wife, survivors include three children and four grandchildren.