In Memoriam and Appreciation: Jerry Zeigenfuse
Jerry Zeigenfuse passed away peacefully this week.
Even if you never knew Jerry personally, if you’ve interacted with Avanceon, you’ve encountered his genius and his spirit.
Jerry was a key founder of Avanceon’s predecessor company Advanced Automation Associates. He was the man who established both our PLC programming standards and state engine sequencer that are still used today. But more important, Jerry was the man who established our way of doing business and delivering quality. Customers knew they could rely on him: Jerry had an incredible project record of 100% delivery on scope and schedule, frequently on the most difficult projects.
But even while he pushed himself and his associates to develop creative, on-time solutions, he rarely missed an opportunity to monitor a project, train an associate, or tell a story. You may have read about how the Philadelphia Inquirer recently named Avanceon one of the region’s “Best Places to Work”; that award has its roots in the way Jerry ran his projects and customer relationships.
In his off-hours, Jerry was a crackerjack model airplane designer and competitor. It isn’t an exaggeration to call him living legend for his 60 years of success in that arena. He approached his hobby with the same spirit in which he ran his projects – with good humor and an unrelenting commitment to excellence. Jerry never missed a model airplane competition because of a project; he managed his team and his projects so well that he didn’t need to.
Jerry was, above all, a devoted family man. He loved telling anyone who would listen stories about his seven children and wife Lois. His delight in his family was obvious, and pervaded his entire life. His son Bob, President of Avanceon, assures us that his stories will live on.
We can best honor Jerry’s life and accomplishments by continuing to do business in his spirit, and we pledge our ongoing dedication to excellence in everything we do.