Remembering Myron Jones
• Legendary Erie, PA broadcaster Myron Jones, the retired President, Chairman and CEO of the WJET Broadcasting Company, died Thursday, June 28 in Erie at the age of 92. Jones was the co-founder of WJET-AM/FM and WJET-TV/Erie, PA, as well as WHOT-AM/Youngstown, OH,
Jones was born in Youngstown, and began his broadcasting career as an engineer at WERC-AM/Erie and WFMJ-AM/Youngstown. In 1951, Jones and partner Bill Fleckenstein launched WJET-AM and built it into the market’s No. 1 Top 40 station. In 1966, Jones launched Erie’s new ABC affiliate, Jet TV, and in 1987, launched WJET-FM. Jones also helped Penn State Behrend secure the license for its commercial radio station — now in its 29th year, WPSE-AM 1450/FM 107.1 is Erie’s only Business-Talk radio station. In 2014, Jones and his wife, Marlene, established the Myron Jones Fund for Broadcasting to support the station in perpetuity.
A notable paragraph in Jones’ obituary reads, “Many successful broadcasters and business executives had received their initial training at Jones’ stations. His life and career have been a model of ethics in business to employees, friends, clients, competitors, and the general public. He was a consummate gentleman, a professional and a humble man. He has often been referred to as ‘the nice guy who finished first.'”
Myron is survived by his wife, Marlene and two stepdaughters. Calling hours will be observed Monday from 3-7pm at Brugger Funeral Homes and Crematory in Erie. Services will be held at the funeral home at 9:15am on Tuesday, July 3, with a funeral mass to follow at 10am at St. Jude the Apostle Church in Erie. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that gifts in Jones’ memory be made to the communications programs of the Erie area’s academic institutions, including Penn State Behrend.
