Jerry Swormstedt, the former third-generation chairman of the board and president of ST Media Group Intl., the parent company of Signs of the Times magazine, died April 4, the day before Easter, after having suffered a massive heart attack on Good Friday, April 3. The 1994 recipient of the sign industry’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award (now known as the Kirk Brimley Distinguished Service award), presented by the National Electric Sign Assn. (now the Intl. Sign Assn.), Jerry was 80.
A 1956 graduate of the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism, Swormstedt first worked in the circulation department of the then ST Publications. He then served two years in the U. S. Army as a field artillery officer. Jerry then joined ST Publications in 1959 as an assistant editor on Signs of the Times magazine. In 1970, he became editorial director for Signs of the Times, Screen Printing and Display World magazine. In 1979, he became the publisher of Signs of the Times. In 1992, following the retirement of his older brother, the late Dave Reid Swormstedt Jr., Jerry became the president of ST Publications. When Jerry’s son Tedd was named president in 1999 (he continues in that role today), Jerry became chairman of the board, a role in which he served until he retired in 2005.
From 1970 to 1994, Jerry served as a judge in the National Electric Sign Assn.’s annual sign-design contest more than a dozen times. At the local level, Jerry was active when the Associated Sign Industries of Ohio (ASIO) trade association (which evolved into the Midwest Sign Assn. in 1986) was formed in 1960. He served as that group’s secretary from 1965-1974. Similarly, Jerry served as the group treasurer for the former Sign Contractors of Greater Cincinnati association.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, April 11 at the Thomas-Justin Funeral Home, 7500 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45236; (513) 791-5353. A visitation will begin at 1:00 pm, and the mermorial service will commence at 2:00 pm.