Lynne Buening, 61, a longtime programming and marketing executive in the cable-TV industry, died on Nov. 6 following a seven-year battle with a chronic blood disorder, family and friends said. A memorial service has been scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6, at 11 a.m. (after visitation at 10 a.m.) at the Norman Chapel at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.
A Cincinnati native, she graduated from Marian High School and received her bachelor of arts degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Her career in the telecommunications industry early on included marketing and sales positions in newspaper, broadcasting and cable operations, including at the Playboy Channel and as programming director at Viacom Cable. In 1993 she became vice president of programming and a corporate officer at Los Angeles-based Falcon Cable, then a top-10 cable provider (later sold to Charter Communications). She continued working in the industry as an independent consultant for RCN, where she was head of programming, and other cable operators.
An avid traveler, she was always planning her next adventure and eagerly recruited family and friends to join her on trips to destinations around the globe or simply to visit her in the cities she lived, which included Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C.
Michael Buening, her nephew, who followed her into the cable industry with her help and encouragement, said she was very well known by her friends and family for her support, involvement and generosity, and enjoyed helping people, personally and professionally.
Skip Harris, a former Falcon Cable colleague, and his wife, Victoria Harris, remained close friends with Buening, who made Victoria's wedding dress. Before she moved from Los Angeles to the Washington, D.C., area to work for RCN, "Lynne ran her own small business designing and manufacturing beaded hand bags, wallets and eye glass cases," Harris said. "She launched a small manufacturing facility in Vietnam and supported a small village employing many of the town’s people. She established a day care center for the children of the employees so the parents could work in her facility. She travelled to Vietnam two to three times a year during this period. She continued to consult to cable networks and distributors even as she ran this small hand bag business."
“Lynne was a tough negotiator, wonderful giving friend, world traveler and a fun and competitive dominoes champ," Harris said. "We both treasured our relationship with her and will miss her clever ‘one-liners’ that always made you smile.”
Lynne Buening is survived by her 99-year-old mother, Mary Geraldine (Schaefer) Buening; her brother, Jerry M. Buening Jr.; her sister, Mary Pamela Deshler; niece Karin Redelberger; nephews Kevin Deshler and Michael Buening, and their families. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages a memorial donation to Interlochen Center for the Arts, PO Box 199, Interlochen, MI, 49643-0199 (attention Samantha Charnes/Advancement Dept.), or to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.
