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SIGETY, CHARLES E. - Entrepreneur, Dies at 91
Charles E. Sigety, an entrepreneur, healthcare pioneer and New York Real Estate developer, died August 3 at 91.
Born in the Bronx, Mr. Sigety graduated from Townsend Harris High School, Columbia University, Harvard Business School (HBS), and Yale Law School. Mr. Sigety served on the USS Fall River as an Ensign in the Navy Supply Corp during WWII.
Upon graduating from Yale Law School, Mr. Sigety taught accounting at Pratt Institute and Yale University and became Assistant to the Commission on Federal Taxation at the American Institute of Accountants. Mr. Sigety served in the Eisenhower Administration as Deputy Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration, and later returned to New York as a 1st Assistant Attorney General, and was also named the head of the N.Y. State Housing Finance Agency.
An HBS course called “The Management of New Enterprises,” or entrepreneurship, would profoundly influence his business life. In the early 1950’s he co-founded Video Vittles, Inc. with his wife, known professionally as Kit Kinne, who was the On Air Food Editor of NBC’s early daytime TV show, The Home Show. He created Metropolitan Ski Slopes, bringing downhill skiing to NYC’s Van Cortlandt Park in 1962, and founded Florence Nightingale Health Center in Manhattan in 1965. In 1982, he and his family purchased Professional Medical Products, Inc., a former medical device manufacturing subsidiary of Parke Davis Corporation headquartered in Greenwood, SC. He was also an active real estate developer, primarily in NYC and Bucks County, PA.
Mr. Sigety’s philanthropic interests focused around educational institutions, giving both his time and resources to the Navy Supply School Foundation, Townsend Harris Alumni Association, Cazenovia College, Delaware Valley College, The Harvard Business School Alumni Association and the National Association for Continence. He was also an active member of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, and Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs where he honed his love of fine food and wine, and was an avid collector of wine, art and historic memorabilia, particularly documents.
He retired to Boca Raton, FL and is survived by his wife of 66 years, Katharine Snell Sigety; his brother Ernest F. Sigety of Alexandria, VA; five children: C. Birge Sigety, Kinne S. Yon, Robert G. Sigety, Cornelius E. Sigety, Elizabeth S. Marcus and 12 grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Doylestown Presbyterian Church - Forward Together Fund (www.dtownpc.org); further information may be found at www.shellyfuneralhomes.com.