William “Bill” Stewart helped Armstrong grow from a small cable TV company into a nationally known TV and internet service provider while being devoted to his family and his favorite pastime, baseball.

He was 85 when he died Thursday, June 26.

“My parents were 17 when I was born. We kind of grew up together,” Jud Stewart said, about his father, Bill, and mother, Gay, who died in 2022. “He went to college when I was a kid.”

Born on his grandfather’s farm in Jefferson County, Stewart received a mechanical engineering degree from Grove City College and worked for Pittsburgh Plate Glass in Ford City before moving to Butler in 1970 and joining Armstrong, which was founded by his father-in-law.

Jud Stewart said he joined Armstrong in 1979 and said it was a blessing to work with his father for almost 20 years before his dad retired.

Armstrong was a small company in 1970 and Bill Stewart helped it grow to have hundreds of thousands of customers and become one of the top telecommunications business in the country while serving as its president, Jud Stewart said.

He said his father was an industry advocate, lobbied state legislators and served as president of the Pennsylvania Cable Television Association.

“He just had this knack for dealing with people and knowing the right people to hire and how to keep them happy and keep them here,” Jud Stewart said.

Some of the people his dad hired worked for the company for 40 years, he added.

Bill Stewart was dedicated to Grove City College, serving on its board of trustees for many years. His sister, brother and other family members also studied at the college, his son said.

“He wanted to help make the place special,” Jud Stewart said.

He was a star baseball play for the college, which is planning to name a new ballfield in his honor after construction is completed, Jud Stewart said.

His love for the game didn’t end in college.

“He was great baseball player in high school and college. He had a tryout for the Pirates,” Jud Stewart said. “Baseball has been huge part of his life.”

Bill Stewart began traveling to watch games at major league ballparks with Jud Stewart and his son. The trips stopped for a few years while his grandson was attending college, but resumed with a group of friends.

Jud Stewart, Bill Stewart and a handful of friends visited 13 baseball stadiums and indulged in hot dogs at each park. The group would stay a while and tour the cities they visited, Jud Stewart said.

“It didn’t matter who was playing. He just loved baseball,” he said.

Bill Stewart gave back to the community by building houses with Habitat for Humanity and giving a generous donation to a summer backpack program that provides meals to hundreds of students over the summer.

Jud Stewart recalled how an injury brought him and his father even closer.

He said he had trouble going up and down the steps in his house after he tore a tendon in his knee on Super Bowl Sunday in 2023.

“So I moved in with my dad and he took care of me. It was a great experience. He was driving me places — doctors appointments, other places. When I was able to stand, I cooked for him. The two of us had a really great experience during that time,” Jud Stewart said.

He and his sister would stay with their dad a few days at a time in January when he had some health problems.

“He loved his family,” Jud Stewart said. “The most important thing to him was being a dad and grandpa. If that’s the only thing he ever did, he would have been happy.”

While growing up in Kittanning, Bill Stewart worked as a butcher in his parents’ meat market. He cut of the top of his left thumb, and laughed about it later in life.

“He always joked about it and his friends did also,” Jud Stewart said.

He said another way his dad shared his sense of humor was to place a hot dog emoji at the end of text messages he sent.

Mayor Bob Dandoy said he and his family have been friends with the Stewart family for over 40 years, and he was among the group of friends that visited ballparks across the country.

He said tight bonds were created during those summer trips.

“When you travel with someone, you really get to know them,” Dandoy said. “He was a crazy baseball fan.”

A baseball fan himself, Dandoy said if he received a text message while watching a Pirates game, he knew it was from Bill Stewart with something to say about the game.

“I’ll miss those text messages,” he said.

Bill Stewart could make or fix anything and used his skills to make a sandbox for Dandoy’s grandchildren, he said.

He said he admired Bill Stewart’s dedication to community and public service, which he expressed through donations to many organizations.

“He was an easy guy to like and easy guy to be friends with,” Dandoy said.

Bill Stewart, Jud Stewart and friends regularly gathered at Cummings Coffee and Candy on Main Street in Butler, said owner Barry Cummings.

“To see Jud and his father, Bill, spend some time together, it was fun to witness that and be part of it,” Cummings said.

He said Bill Stewart knew what it was like to run a small business.

“He was a butcher when he was young. He related to my profession — managing a small business. I felt that was the common bond between us,” Cummings said.