A. Wilson (Will) Flannery, vice president of advanced services for Fox Cable Networks, died of a sudden illness on Friday, Sept. 18, at age 38, the company said.
Flannery, who lived in Hermosa Beach, Calif., is survived by his wife Kristin Torgen Flannery; daughters Sarah and Norah; parents Catherine and Francis Terrance Flannery of Vista, Calif.; and brother Francis Emmett Flannery, sister-in-law Julia Flannery, and nephew Connor of Holyoke, Mass.
Funeral services will be private and a public memorial is scheduled for Nov. 14, for which details were pending as of Sept. 24.
At Fox, which he joined in 2000, Flannery was responsible for the day-to-day distribution activities of advanced television services (including high-definition, interactivity and video-on-demand) for Fox's 36 programming networks.
He was very active in industry organizations including the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing's Advanced Cable Solutions Consortium. According to published biographies, he also served as a business development executive at DirecTV and came to News Corp.-owned Fox Cable Networks initially from Sony Pictures Entertainment.
"Will was an extremely important part of our affiliate sales and marketing team and was well-liked and respected throughout the television industry," Mike Hopkins, Fox Cable Networks president of affiliate sales and marketing, said in a statement. "He left an indelible impact on everyone and will be greatly missed. Our prayers and thoughts are with his family."
Angie Britt, vice president of advanced products at CTAM, said in a note to fellow committee members of Flannery's: "We are shocked and saddened at the loss of Will who led the CTAM Advanced Cable Solutions Consortium Cross-Platform Committee. Will was one of the most positive and motivated persons I have ever met or had the pleasure with whom to work. He was the real deal -- an authentic friend, colleague and leader. Will's contributions to the vision and mission of the CTAM Consortium will be long remembered. His absence will long be felt."
At the family's request, in lieu of flowers, donations to be held in trust for Flannery's daughters may be made to the "Sarah and Norah Flannery Scholarship Fund," c/o Ken Teshima, Teshima & Associates, 2215 West 190th Street, Torrance, CA 90504.
