Reaction continues to come in concerning the death of former State House member Jeff Pyle, who passed away Wednesday evening.
Pyle was elected to represent the 60th legislative district in November of 2004, but a few months later, discovered he had cancer. Pyle continued to serve while undergoing cancer treatments, and he eventually beat it, but it returned to his chest in October of 2017. After suffering a stroke in 2020, he made the decision to step down from office in March of 2021 to focus on his health. In his time in the State House, Pyle was the chairman of the House Gaming Oversight Committee and lead the second amendment caucus and coal caucus for 10 years. He also authored legislation on provisions regarding emergency personnel in operating underground mines and providing veterans with a special designation on driver’s licenses.
Former State Senator Don White said that Pyle was a good friend who always had his back.
State Representative Abby Major took over for Pyle. In a statement, she called Pyle a “Larger than Life figure” and cared about the community and making it a better place in his work in the State House and before that when he was an educator in the Ford City School District.
Current State House Speaker Bryan Cutler said in his own statement that Pyle was a person that he thought embodied the spirit, energy and effort it took to represent their home in the General Assembly.
Governor Tom Wolf has ordered all commonwealth flags at all state facilities, public buildings and grounds to fly at half-staff until sunset on the day of Pyle’s interment, which has not yet been announced.
Pyle passed away at the age of 58.
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