Cable Veteran Ron Wolfe Dies at 63

Ron Wolfe
Ronald Wolfe (Image credit: Cable Center)

Industry veteran Ron Wolfe, most recently senior director of engineering & architecture at Charter Communications, died Nov. 25 in Aurora, Colorado after a month-long battle with COVID-19, according to his obituary. He was 63 years old.

Ron Wolfe

Ron Wolfe (Image credit: Cable Center)

Wolfe spent about 40 years in the cable industry -- his first job was as an installer for Warner Cable in Oshkosh, Wisconsin -- and was part of the upcoming 54th class of Cable Pioneers, which will be inducted in a virtual ceremony on CSPAN3 on Friday, Dec. 4. 

As director of plant engineering at ATC/Time Warner Cable, Wolfe supported Time Warner Cable’s national HFC deployment and later led network and systems integration and affiliate relations for @Home Network. He later moved to positions at Aurora Networks and BigBand Networks, joining Charter in 2014.

Wolfe was a member of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), serving on several national committees and the Rocky Mountain chapter board. He was named SCTE Member of the Year in 1992. 

Wolfe also was a dedicated community volunteer, working with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Susan G, Komen Foundation and the American Lung Association. At the time of his death he was in the early stages of founding a nonprofit aimed at helping at-risk youngsters who have lost their fathers.  

Wolfe is survived by his life partner Lisa Guess, his son Donald John Wolfe and his siblings Steve Wolfe (Beth Goodnight) – Sandpoint, Idaho; Barbara Dempsey – Minneapolis; and Sandi (Allan) Rapp – Millerstown, Pennsylvania. 

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, mourners make donations to Feeding America.

Mike Farrell

Mike Farrell is senior content producer, finance for Multichannel News/B+C, covering finance, operations and M&A at cable operators and networks across the industry. He joined Multichannel News in September 1998 and has written about major deals and top players in the business ever since. He also writes the On The Money blog, offering deeper dives into a wide variety of topics including, retransmission consent, regional sports networks,and streaming video. In 2015 he won the Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Profile, an in-depth look at the Syfy Network’s Sharknado franchise and its impact on the industry.