Dear BellTel Family,
It is with extreme sadness that we share the news that C. William (Bill) Jones, the co-founder of your Association of BellTel Retirees, has passed away.
Bill was a true giant. For 30 years, our Association has thrived due to his efforts, as well as those of our other co-founders. Early on, they recognized that united, retirees are stronger, and that together we must maintain a bold stance to advocate for the economic protection of the Verizon retiree community. All who have been part of the Association community are here because of his vision and never-ending support.
Bill worked at NY Telephone/NYNEX for more than three decades, retiring in June of 1990. He held numerous positions in customer service, sales, business marketing for Manhattan, as a company witness in rate proceedings, and corporate planning, before retiring from NYNEX as Managing Director of Corporate Planning.
In April 1996, he and six fellow retirees founded the Association of NYNEX Retirees (now BellTel), leading the national non-profit as President and Executive Director. He frequently testified before Congress and federal agencies, and consistently appeared at annual NYNEX, Bell Atlantic and Verizon shareholders meetings, addressing the corporate board about concerns felt by fellow retirees, which included tens of thousands of shareholders. The Association’s success in the shareholder proxy resulted in a number of changes to board and corporate policy. Following a 2012 derisking transaction by Verizon to spinoff 41,000 retirees’ pension assets into a group annuity, Jones led BellTel to initiate a federal lawsuit that rose all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
For more than 20 years, Bill championed the cause of his fellow retirees, even mentoring retirees from other major U.S. corporations, as they sought to follow BellTel’s lead to advocate for fellow retirees. Upon his retirement from the BellTel board, Bill maintained the title of Board Member Emeritus. His achievements on behalf of the Association continue to be impactful to this day.
A Celebration of Bill Jones’ Life will be held at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, June 18, 2026, at Christ Church, Plano, Texas. The family is requesting that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Christ Church Plano or the Association of BellTel Retirees at: https://belltelretirees.org/
Here is a link to Bill Jones’ obituary which can be found online:
https://www.affoplano.com/obituaries/clarence-jones-jr
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