Jean Runyon died peacefully at the age of 82 early on October 24, 2009. Jean built and nurtured the widely known and respected public relations/advertising firm, Runyon Saltzman & Einhorn, Inc.
Her involvement in the world of advertising, promotion and public relations goes back to the late 1950s. However, her real plunge into advertising was in the early 1960s at a firm called Dannenfelser, Runyon, Craig, Inc. (Pete Dannenfelser, Tom Craig and Jean Runyon/DRC), which had a large advertising department and handled some of the biggest local-area advertising campaigns, e.g., Regional Transit, Safeway, and several car dealers. Jean ran the public relations department of that agency, whereas her partners focused on running the advertising operation. Nevertheless, she was very much a part of the advertising new business development efforts and in the development of creative ideas for campaigns.
Jean left DRC in1976 and she and Estelle Saltzman formed The Runyon Agency, Inc. Initially, they focused on public relations work, by design, but so many clients asked them to expand into advertising so they hired staff with those specific skills.
Early advertising clients from 1976 on included SMUD, Cellular One, numerous home builders and a variety of local and state political campaigns.
In 1987, Jean received the American Advertising Federation Silver Medal Award for her contribution to the advertising community.
But her contributions and recognition extend far beyond advertising. She was the first woman to enjoy the irony of being named “PR Man of the Year” by the Sacramento Public Relations Roundtable. She is nationally recognized through listings in Who’s Who of American Women and was inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame in 1986. In 1991, Jean was named “Women of the Decade” by the Sacramento YWCA and received the 1992 Athena Award honoring her exceptional leadership and her ability to inspire others to achieve excellence in their professional and personal lives.
Mention Jean to just about anyone in town and each will have a unique way of describing her—visionary, activist, partner, actress, philanthropist, communicator, strategist, crusader, board member and leader. Whatever it is, Jean did it. And did it very, very well.
Throughout the years, she devoted much time to charities, raising millions of dollars for local causes, especially the arts, while enriching the fabric of the community. She received scores of awards in recognition of her personal and corporate contributions, and in 1997, a group of her ardent fans, in partnership with the City of Sacramento, renovated the small theater in Memorial Auditorium, which was renamed The Jean Runyon Little Theater.
Her finest performance came every Halloween for 40 years when she climbed on her roof dressed as a witch, cackled with all her might, and tossed candy to the glee of hundreds of neighborhood children and friends, as well as a bevy of television cameras.
So, it’s befitting that her life will be celebrated on Saturday, October 31, 2009 (Halloween) at Memorial Auditorium starting at 1:30 p.m. Attendees are asked to bring non-perishable food for donation to the Sacramento Food Bank. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Jean Runyon Endowment for the Arts Fund, care of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, 740 University Ave., Sacramento, CA 95825, are encouraged.
