The late legendary Colorado businessman Bill Daniels, who amassed a fortune in the cable- TV industry, will be honored today by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The Sea-Air Operations gallery at the institution’s National Air and Space Museum will be dedicated in memory of Daniels, a naval aviator who served as a fighter pilot during World War II and as an intelligence officer during the Korean War. Daniels died in 2000.
The gallery, which is a commissioned U.S. aircraft deck, will be formally dedicated Nov. 28 in a private ceremony.
Today’s dedication will honor a $3 million legacy grant made by the Daniels Fund, with $1.1 billion in assets the Rocky Mountain region’s largest foundation.
The gallery will not be renamed in honor of Daniels, a process that would require approval from Congress, said Peter Droege, a Daniels Fund spokesman.
Instead, a 72-inch-tall, 3-foot-wide three-dimensional exhibit highlighting Daniels’ life will greet patrons at the gallery’s entrance.
The exhibit will include pieces of Daniels memorabilia, including a pilot’s helmet and several of his war medals.
Daniels, a Greeley native, grew up in Nebraska and Iowa before moving as a teen to New Mexico, where he was an undefeated Golden Gloves boxer.
After his stint in the Navy, Daniels launched his first cable business in Casper.
He later owned and operated dozens of cable-TV systems in the U.S., was a founder of the United States Football League, owned several professional basketball teams, including the Utah Stars, and had a stake in the Los Angeles Lakers.
Established in 1997, the Daniels Fund provides grants and scholarships in Denver and across the Rocky Mountain region. It also gives grants to nonprofits to combat alcoholism and homelessness and to improve education and ethics.
Staff writer Will Shanley can be reached at 303-820-1260 or wshanley@denverpost.com.
