Richard John Callahan

Richard John Callahan died on October 19, 2024, surrounded by family in Denver, Colorado. Dick was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on December 4, 1941, to Margaret and Clarence Callahan. 

He attended Washington High School in Sioux Falls, where he excelled at track, baseball, and football. During one football game versus Aberdeen, Dick scored 6 touchdowns, including a 97-yarder, and ran for 250 yards. Dick was then awarded a full scholarship to the University of Nebraska where he played for four years, notably playing a starring role for the sixth-ranked Huskers in the 1964 Orange Bowl where he played both offense and defense, famously dropping a touchdown pass but securing an interception, several tackles and a game ball. 

In 1968, Dick married Mary Celeste Burke and the couple went on to have three children while moving over the years from Omaha to New Jersey, Minnesota, South Dakota, Seattle, Denver and London before settling back in Denver. 

Dick joined AT&T’s “Bell System” management program while earning an MBA from Creighton University. Starting as a telephone pole “lineman”, Dick quickly rose through the ranks at AT&T, becoming head of Northwestern Bell for South Dakota in 1983. After AT&T’s breakup, Dick started one of the world’s first cellular telephone companies, called USWest Cellular, and was later named Vice President of USWest, where he managed all non-telephone assets for the company, investing in 24 cable and cellular ventures in 18 countries [source], the largest of which was Telewest which became the UK’s second-largest cable operator. 

After retiring from USWest, Dick started his own company called Callahan Associates (later Cable Partners) which developed and built cable assets all around the world, including Telenet in Belgium and Ono in Spain. 

Dick is survived by his wife Celeste and their three children Kelly, Tim, and Colin, and seven grandchildren Zachary, Drake, and Dasheill Poe; Emma and Maggie Callahan; and Ellie and Jules Callahan. He is also survived by his niece Christy Callahan, daughter of his late brother Jerry, and her children Madeline and Samantha. 

Services will be held at the Church of Good Shepherd on October 28 at 10am. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Denver Rescue Mission.