Memorial service to be held for broadcaster Bill Seward

A memorial service will be held Saturday in Sherman Oaks, Calif., for broadcaster Bill Seward, who died last month following a career that included working for racing channels TVG and HRTV.

Seward, 63, had a wide-ranging broadcasting career – including three years working for ESPN, as well as Olympic assignments for NBC – but always was passionate about racing.

In addition to his duties at TVG and HRTV, Seward worked at Santa Anita on shows like “Santa Anita Today,” a live racing show on weekends that aired on Fox Sports Net, and “Inside Santa Anita,” a Friday night magazine-style show that included features and handicapping of weekend stakes.

He also owned interests in several racehorses and spent one summer at Del Mar working as a groom.

Seward worked in television and radio throughout his broadcasting career, including high-profile stints in Los Angeles at KCBS-TV, the local CBS affiliate, and KNX, an all-news radio station, receiving numerous awards. He also had roles in several movies and television shows, including the films “Seabiscuit,” “Nightcrawler,” and “Steve Jobs,” and the shows “Modern Family,” “Monk,” and many others.

One of his best-known bits was on “Key and Peele,” where he teamed with broadcaster Joel Meyers to introduce a spoof of athletes – played by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peale – giving their names and colleges before the “Annual East/West Collegiate Bowl.”

Seward became a broadcaster after first achieving success as a high school football coach. At age 23, he became the head coach at St. Bernard High School in Playa Del Rey, Calif. He was 23-11-2 as a head coach.

Seward attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, which is located in the San Fernando Valley, about 25 miles west of Santa Anita. Suffering from cancer, he and his family moved last year to Boerne, Texas, where he died Jan. 14. He is survived by his wife, Cheri, daughters Sara and Emma, and son John Patrick.

His service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Francis DeSales Catholic Church, 13370 Valleyheart Drive.