William Cumley Jones was born on August 9, 1926. He entered into peaceful rest on February 13, 2011 at home.

William (Bill) was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. At age 18 he entered the Navy and served from 1944 to 1946 as an radioman. In 1949, Bill received his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University with highest honors. He went on to earn his master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1952. Bill spent his entire 41-year career with Bell Laboratories as highly respected engineer, manager and director. He was one of the primary designers of the AT&T Bell Laboratories' 1/1A ESS phone switch changing how voice communication was managed. A driven professional, he later went on to work for AT&T Network Systems and was awarded multiple patents including one for the design of the "Privacy Manager" feature used in today's Caller ID phone systems. Bill retired in 1993.

Outside of his professional development, Bill was an advocate of the United Negro College Fund and active in AT&T's Affirmative Action program.

Bill married Joan Shore in May of 1949 and they spent more than 61 wonderful years together raising a family of four boys. He enjoyed traveling, reading and completing the New York Times Crossword Puzzle in pen on a weekly basis. Toward the end of his career and into his retirement years, Bill and Joan spent many winters on their beloved island of Maui.

As a strong supporter of his alma mater, WVU, and a passionate college football fan, Bill loved WVU Mountaineer football. He particularly savored a WVU victory over arch rival University of Pittsburgh and relished discussing the game details with his Pitt-alum colleagues and friends.

Bill is survived by his wife Joan; three sons: Stephen, Stuart and Russell (Marlo) and five grandchildren: Will, Ryan, Tiffany, Alexandra and William.

He is preceded in death by his son William Martin Jones (Sandra).

Family visitation will be at Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187, on Sunday, February 20, from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. A memorial service will be held on Monday, February 21st, at 11:00 a.m. at Gary United Methodist Church, 224 N. Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187. Interment is private.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the West Virginia University Foundation, Lane Department of Computer Science and Engineering, One Waterfront Place - 7th Floor, P.O. Box 1650 - Morgantown, WV 26507-1650, Phone: 304-284-4000 or 1-800-847-3856. http://www.wvuf.org/. Follow the "Ways To Give->In Honor Of/In Memory Of" link.