A very great man, Dave R. (“Reid”) Swormstedt, Jr., died January 17 at age 83. He served as president of then Signs of the Times Publishing Co. (now ST Media Group Intl.) from 1979 until his retirement in 1994.
He became president of the company in 1979 following the death of his father, Dave, Sr., who helped found the National Electric Sign Assn. (now the International Sign Assn) and the Screen Process Printing Assn. (now the Specialty Graphics Imaging Assn). Reid retired in 1991 after having guided the company from hot type and color separations into the computer age of modern publishing. Full article: Sign Web Story by Wade Swormstedt.
During his last two years of life, Pop, as his children called him, enjoyed attending the weddings (ranging from Maine to California) of three of his four grandchildren, and celebrated his 60th anniversary (at an American Sign Museum gala party) with his beloved Win. (Without Reid and Win, and Jim and Sharon Weinel, there simply would not be a museum.)
There will be no tours at the Museum this Friday, due to the memorial.
The funeral will be held Friday, January 25 at 2:00 at Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church, 6312 Kennedy Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45213. Visitation will also be at the church from noon until 2:00. Memorials may be sent to the church or to the American Sign Museum, 1330 Monmouth St., Cincinnati, OH 45225. Pop was a member there for more than half a century.