(The other "big name" associated with Microwave Communications Inc., William McGowan, died back in 1992) ----
Associated Press September 17, 2010 03:58 PM
Friday, September 17, 2010
Joliet, Ill. - John "Jack" Goeken (GOH'-ken), founder of telecom giant MCI, has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 80.
The Goeken Group Corp., a company he founded in Chicago's suburbs after MCI, says Goeken died Thursday in his hometown of Joliet, Illinois.
Goeken is widely viewed as the father of air-to-ground telephone communication.
As a founder of MCI and Airfone Inc., he sought to make communication possible anywhere people go - an idea that revolutionized the telecommunications industry.
He also won a reputation as "Jack the Giant Killer," because of his fervor for busting up communications monopolies like AT&T.
Goeken is survived by his wife of 59 years, Mona Lisa Goeken, two children, seven grandchildren and two sisters.