Cable TV pioneer and Armstrong chairman Jay Sedwick dies
Jay Lloyd Sedwick, Sr., 88, who oversaw Armstrong Group’s entry into the broadband internet business and was a “pioneer in the cable industry,” died Monday evening, Jan. 1, the cable company announced Thursday.
Sedwick, who was born in Kittanning and attended Community Alliance Church, had worked in several leadership capacities at Armstrong, including as president and chief operating officer. At the time of his death, Sedwick was chairman of the board of Armstrong Holdings.
The cable company’s statement highlighted Sedwick’s “early engineering prowess, technological curiosity, and passion for doing new things the right way.”
He oversaw the construction of Armstrong’s first cable TV system in Butler “before there was a blueprint for cable network architecture,” and led Armstrong through multiple network rebuilds, including the introduction of fiber optics in the ’90s, the company said.
He also was active in the creation of what became the Pennsylvania Cable Association and is now called the Broadband Communications Association of Pennsylvania.
Sedwick, an alumnus of Kittanning High School, graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1957, after which he began his career as an electrical engineer at Pratt and Whitney, where he worked with technology used in the early days of the space program, Armstrong shared. In 1960, he returned to Western Pennsylvania to work as an engineer at Magnetics in Butler and later “answered the call from his father, Jud Sedwick” as he entered the cable television industry.
“Jay Sedwick was a man before his time, known for his keen engineering abilities and formidable passion for technology,” said Todd Eachus, president of the Broadband Communications Association of Pennsylvania.
“The cable and broadband industry will forever be grateful to Jay for his extraordinary talents and abilities and leadership,” Eachus said. “He will be missed. On behalf of the BCAP Board of Directors, staff and members, our hearts, prayers and thoughts are with Jay’s family at this time.”
Today, Armstrong is led by Sedwick’s son and CEO, Dru Sedwick.
