New York ? ABC News chairman Roone Arledge was remembered Monday by colleagues as an inspirational boss and a pioneer who transformed sports television.

“I’m not sure I really trust myself to try to tell you everything Roone meant to me,” ABC “Good Morning America” host Diane Sawyer told mourners at majestic St. Bartholomew’s Church.

Arledge, who died Thursday of complications from cancer at 71, created such shows as “Monday Night Football,” “Wide World of Sports” and “Nightline.” The 36-time Emmy winner, who was president of ABC News and Sports for more than a decade, was cited as one of the 100 most important Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine in 1990.

Other ABC figures, including Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel and Barbara Walters, also spoke warmly of their former boss.