Theodore Charles (Ted) Treadway, III passed away Wednesday, July 4.
Ted was a former regional Vice President at Arkansas’ oldest electrical distributor, Treadway Electric, based in Little Rock. Treadway Electric was founded in 1905 and acquired by Irby in January, 2012.
Ted was an NAED Arthur W. Hooper Award winner in 2004. The award is given to an individual who has had an exceptional career in distribution that covers the span of many years and has had a “positive impact” on NAED and the industry. He was also the recipient of NAED’s Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007, in recognition of long and meritorious service to Treadway Electric.
In the April 2008 issue of tED magazine, Treadway Electric was featured in an article about the “Industry’s Forerunners.” (Access the full article here, and scroll down the page to find Treadway.)
“This company was family owned until quite recently,” said President and CEO Terry Rogers. “Being in business for more than a century can teach you a lot, but it can also have the opposite effect: Aging enterprises have a way of becoming set in their ways and resistant to change. With us this has never been the case. Each generation of Treadways reinvented the company to keep pace with the changes occurring in the electrical marketplace, and much of the credit for its longevity and success is owed to the family’s willingness to be flexible and original.”
Originality has always been a Treadway hallmark, Rogers noted, beginning with founders Leo Treadway, and his sons, William and Theodore. Engineers by trade, the trio not only pioneered electrical distribution in Arkansas, but also helped defined it.
“In 1905, there wasn’t much in the way of an electrical industry,” Rogers explained. “Leo, William, and Theodore were able to carve out their own niche. They became a one-stop shop, providing not just product, but also consultation and engineering services. This first generation of family-owners also got involved in aspects of customer projects—including installation and construction. The company continued along this path through the next generation. In the 1930s, a third generation of Treadways transitioned the business yet again so it could it remain afloat through the Depression.”
Ted is survived by his wife, Lou Ellen East Treadway, and daughters, Ellen East Treadway Engelke (Ben) and Amy Nicol Treadway Iacaboni. A funeral service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral on Monday, July 9, 2018, at 11 a.m. The family will receive friends at a reception in Morrison Hall immediately following the interment of Ted’s ashes in Treadway Garden.
Arrangements are under the direction of Ruebel Funeral Home, www.ruebelfuneralhome.com.
Tagged with Irby, Sonepar