Talton Telecommunications founder Julius Ellis Talton died Sunday, January 23.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, January 26 in First Baptist Church with the Rev. Lee Tate officiating. Burial will be in New Live Oak Cemetery with Lawrence-Brown directing.

“Julius was just a good friend. He was a great community minded person,” Probate Judge Johnny Jones said. “He did a lot of benevolent things that many people didn’t know about

He was just a fine person. He will be missed by me personally and he will be missed by the community.”

Born in Montgomery on Nov. 4, 1928, his early childhood years were spent at the Methodist Children’s Home in Selma.

He was a graduate of Parrish High School, where he was a standout player on the football and basketball teams, which set records in the state.

After graduation he enrolled at the University of Alabama, working his way through and earning a degree in broadcasting. He served five years as a pilot in the Strategic Air Command.

Known as a visionary broadcaster and telecommunications entrepreneur he began his career with WAPI in Birmingham. In 1952 he married his wife of 53 years, Pearl Luckie Talton, and in 1961 they returned to Selma, where he purchased radio stations WHBB and WTUN.

“Julius Talton was an outstanding member of the communication industry not only in Selma and Dallas County but throughout the state of Alabama,” said Wallace who worked for and with Talton. “He was an innovator who brought big-time radio to small town Alabama.”

He formed Talton Broadcasting Co. in a business venture so successful that in 1973 he formed Talton Communications Corporation, the leader in the rapidly growing mobile telephone and pager industries.

“He was a great man,” said Jim Lumpkin who worked with Talton for 33 years. “I had the utmost respect for him.”

Talton’s companies continued to grow with the purchase of additional stations and involvement in outdoor advertising. When the company was sold in 1996, Talton became chairman of WWISP, an Internet service provider and E-Commerce company.

His loyalty to his hometown was constantly demonstrated. He headed the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, Boy Scouts, the Selma City School Board and the Salvation Army. Talton was a board member of the Selma-Dallas County Economic Development Authority, co-chaired the United Appeal and was a director of Peoples Bank and Trust Co.

In addition he gave strong support to the public library renovation and helped Selma’s Tale Tellin’ Festival become one of the area’s cultural highlights. He received dual honors for his community commitment when he was named Rotary Citizen of the Year and received the Paul Harris Fellow Certificate.

Active in professional organizations, he served as president of the Alabama Broadcasters Association.

Talton’s commitment to his alma mater was equally strong. He served The University of Alabama as National Alumni Association president and was named a Sesquicentennial Honorary Professor in the College of Communications and an Outstanding Alumnus of its Department of Telecommunication and Film. He was a member of the President’s Cabinet and served on the College of Communication and Information Sciences Board of Visitors.

“The College lost a wonderful friend as Julius Talton passed away last evening,” said

E. Culpepper Clark, dean of the College of Communication and Information Sciences of the University of Alabama. “His personal warmth, his unerring instinct about what was right for his University, and his always wise counsel will be sorely missed.”

Surviving Talton are his wife, Pearl Luckie Talton,

his daughter, Carrie “Pud” Talton Glover and her husband Tom; his son Julius Ellis Talton Jr. and his wife Ruth, all of Selma. Survivors include his grandchildren Thomas Worth Glover IV, Carrie Goodwin Glover, Joseph Talton Glover, Julius Ellis Talton III, Laura Kathryn Talton, Sophie Rebecca Talton and Ann Jackson Talton.

Other survivors are his two sisters, Mary Frances Holland of Opelika and Martha Young of Houston, Texas, and several nieces, nephews and other family members.

Pallbearers will be Dr. Clyde Cox, Jere Peak, Dickie McKenzie, J.N. Holt, Gary Fuller, Jim Lumpkin, Bud Spikings, Jimmie Guthrie, Charles Cobb, Dr. Garry Noah, Allen Collins, Dr. Caldwell DeBardeleben, Scott Patterson and members of the Maverick Sunday School Class, which he helped found.

Memorial gifts may be made to the YMCA of Selma, the Public Library of Selma, the Kidney Foundation or a charity of choice.