Former state Rep. Jeff Pyle remembered as dedicated public servant
The late Republican state Rep. Jeff Pyle is being remembered as a dedicated servant of his hometown of Ford City in Armstrong County and a key player in creating Butler County Community College's new BC3 @ Armstrong campus at the site of the high school where he studied and taught.
Pyle, 58, died Wednesday following a 17-year battle with cancer.
Pyle was diagnosed with kidney cancer soon after taking his seat in the House to represent the 60th district in 2005. He continued to serve as he underwent treatment and made a complete recovery. After the cancer returned to his chest in 2018, he suffered a stroke in 2020 that forced him to resign from the House. The district includes communities in Armstrong, Butler and Indiana counties.
Before serving in the House, he was the mayor of Ford City and a teacher at Ford City Junior-Senior High School. The school on Fourth Avenue was demolished for the site to become the new home of BC3 @ Armstrong, which is scheduled to open by spring 2023.
One of his high school students, state Sen. Joe Pittman, R-41st, called him a mentor and a confidant.
“I consider him a dear friend,” Pittman said. “He was a very strong mentor to me, a confidant.”
He said his first introduction to Pyle was a little more than 20 years ago when he was a student in the social studies class that Pyle taught.
