Barry Russell Elson ’63
Barry Russell Elson ’63 died on June 7 in Atlanta. Barry was a native “Jersey Boy” from Cedar Grove and attended Bloomfield High School, where he was class president and star athlete in baseball, cross country, and basketball. At Dartmouth he majored in sociology, was president of Phi Delt, and captain of the basketball team. He was in ROTC, president of the Interfraternity Council and Sphinx, and a member of Green Key and Palaeopitus. Following Dartmouth Barry earned an M.B.A. at Cornell and then served as a first lieutenant during the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia, where he ran the world’s first mobile satellite communications station. After serving his country he became a leading telecommunications, broadband, and media specialist for Cox Cable Communications, eventually inducted into the Cable TV Pioneers Hall of Fame. Barry was a two-time head and neck cancer survivor and contributed to four major cancer research projects at MD Anderson (which he visited for his own treatment), Jimmy V Foundation, and the Emory Winship Cancer Institute, where he was a board member. He was very generous with his time for others and he mentored 91 cancer patients, helping them reach the best centers for their cancers. In 2021 Barry was appointed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to the board of the Georgia Department of Human Services. He was buried in the Georgia National Cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Karen, five children, and six grandchildren.
