UTICA-ROME -- We're saddened to report Virginia "Ginny" Jones, a longtime fixture in local broadcasting, passed away Wednesday after losing her battle with cancer. While most area listeners probably never knew Jones by name, chances are you've heard her voice and/or her copywriting in commercial spots, particularly those which were produced and aired by the former Regent Communications cluster.
According to her obituary in today's Utica Observer-Dispatch, the Remsen native worked at a number of local stations during her broadcasting career, starting with a job at NBC affiliate WKTV shortly after her graduation from St. Lawrence University in 1969. Next she moved onto WTLB, and then to other various stations. Jones most recently worked at Regent Communications, where she served as Continuity Director until 2009.
Calling hours will be held tomorrow (Friday) from 4-7pm at the Ackley-Mills Funeral Home, 9597 Main Street, Remsen. Funeral services will be held at the same location on Saturday at 11am. In lieu of flowers, the family says contributions to the Remsen Fire Department would be most appreciated. Jones was 62.
I met Ginny soon after joining the staff of Lite 98.7 (WLZW) in 1999, when the cluster was owned by Forever Broadcasting. Ginny was the Continuity Director. It's a job most people outside of radio don't even know about -- but one of the most important "cogs" in the "machine" that is a radio station cluster.
Ginny's desk was always filled with stacks and stacks of sales contracts, affadavits, reels, CDs and production orders. Despite all the deadlines and the fact that she was "always cleaning up messes," Ginny handled the job like a pro... even adding traffic or production duties to her plate when employees from those departments were vacationing or out sick. Her strong work ethic would have been appreciated anywhere she worked.
Feel free to leave your memories of Ginny in the comments section below, or on the guest book on her obituary page on the Utica O-D website.