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Friday, July 25, 2008

Consumer Advocate Fought for the Little Guy

By Lloyd Jojola
Journal Staff Writer
      Ed Pennybacker, who shined a light on dubious business dealings as host of the TV consumer affairs segment "On Your Behalf," died Wednesday after an extended illness, his family said.
    The Los Ranchos de Albuquerque resident was 80. A memorial service will take place at 3 p.m. Tuesday at French Mortuary University Boulevard Chapel, 1111 University NE.
    "He was a consumer advocate, but he tried to be very fair about it," said his wife, Sallie Pennybacker. "He didn't just let people complain and fuss. It had to be a legitimate complaint, and he would investigate it."
    Pennybacker hosted "On Your Behalf" from the late 1970s into the mid-1980s, a show that appeared on KOAT-TV multiple times a week. He worked at the station for 8 1/2 years.
    "In the 2 1/2-minute reports he informs people about mail order fraud and vacation scams," The Albuquerque Tribune wrote about Pennybacker in 1984. "He tells a consumer how to make good on a warranty on a bad TV set. Or he'll advise a car buyer on what his rights are when the vehicle breaks down and the dealer won't fix it."
    "His name was synonymous with consumer problem solving," said KRQE-TV investigative reporter Larry Barker, who worked with Pennybacker at KOAT and was a longtime friend. "He was a consumer crusader fighting for the little guy."
    Born in White Plains, N.Y., Pennybacker grew up in Japan, where his father worked for Standard Oil. He went back to the country while serving in the Army.
    "He returned to Japan for the occupation (after World War II), and that's where I met him," Sallie Pennybacker said. "I was with the American Red Cross in Tokyo."
    The couple married in 1950.
    After his military stint, Pennybacker studied at Columbia University before the two moved to Europe.
    Pennybacker had worked with Radio Tokyo, for the armed forces, and launched his news career as an assistant news director for the American Forces Network in Frankfurt, Germany, his wife said.
    After returning to the U.S., he worked in radio in San Antonio, Texas, before arriving in Albuquerque.
    "Journalism was his passion all his adult life," said Barker, who described his friend as opinionated, but with a good sense of right and wrong. "He was very dedicated to it."
    His career began locally with KQUE, an AM radio station that had Pennybacker zipping around town in a mobile unit, a station wagon, known as "Big Red."
    "Everybody thought that was him. They kind of expected him to have red hair or something," Sallie Pennybacker said. "He came to be known as Big Red, but the actual reference was to the car, not to him."
    Pennybacker was a success, a move away from rip and read wire reports and to spot news coverage, his wife said.
    The station became KQEO, and Pennybacker was promoted to news director, a position he held for 18 years, according to the 1984 story.
    After a nine-month stint at KNUZ-AM, a failed all-news format, Pennybacker went to work for KOAT-TV.
    He was offered a job hosting the magazine show "Focus," but soon took over "On Your Behalf."
    Pennybacker left KOAT under less than amicable terms. He was terminated in 1985 and later sued the station, according to newspaper reports. The suit was settled out of court.
    Pennybacker, a horse enthusiast and great golfer who also developed a small career in films, retired into working for Horseman's Voice Magazine, which was published and edited by his wife. He also was a former trustee for the Village of Los Ranchos.
    Still, Pennybacker is best-known for the 30 to 40 consumer complaints he sifted through every week as the "On Your Behalf" reporter and host, so well-known that it wasn't uncommon for people to call him at home, or to be afraid of having him as a customer.
    "It would be funny. If you had someone come out to fix the roof or something, boy, they'd knock themselves out," Sallie Pennybacker said. "They'd say, 'I don't want to get on TV.' They were really kind of scared. He'd laugh about it."
    Along with his wife, survivors include his daughters, Debbie Tissot and her husband, Ralph, and Susan Kuliasha and her children, Ian and Cary.
   

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