Zane E. Barnes, former chairman and CEO of SBC Communications and civic leader in St. Louis, died Friday, Jan. 9, 2004, at his home in St. Louis due to complications from an accident that occurred in 2001. He was 82.
Barnes was the first chairman of the board and CEO of SBC Communications Inc., a position he held from October 1983 until his retirement Dec. 31, 1989.
He began his nearly 50 years with the Bell system in 1941 as a lineman for Ohio Bell Telephone Co. He was named president of Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. in 1973.
"Zane Barnes guided SBC through the break-up of the Bell System and positioned the company well for future growth," said SBC Chairman and CEO Edward E. Whitacre Jr. "His leadership during SBC's formative years helped create a company that today is a worldwide leader in our industry."
Barnes held craft, supervisory and executive positions in Ohio and was president of Pacific Northwest Bell in Seattle before becoming president of Southwestern Bell in 1973 in St. Louis.
