Remembering Pen Tudor
Westmont mourns the loss of W. Pendleton (Pen) Tudor, one of the three founders of Adweek, who died March 12, 2019, in Montecito, Calif. He was 89 years old. He served for years on Westmont’s Board of Advisors and provided valuable insight and support to the college.
“He was a charming, gracious man, and we’ll miss his keen advice and involvement in the college,” says Gayle D. Beebe, president of Westmont. “I greatly valued his wisdom and perspective and benefited from his wide experience.”
Born on March 5, 1930, Tudor became a nationally recognized marketing and publishing executive and worked at Time Inc. before co-founding Adweek in 1979. He donated a bound set of LIFE magazines to Westmont as he had worked for the publication in its heyday.
An obituary in Adweek describes Tudor as someone “who saw that advertising was evolving from a regional industry to a national one. He viewed Adweek as a part of the ‘Americanization of Madison Avenue.’”
Co-founder Kenneth Fadner told Adweek, “Pen Tudor was a friend to all he met and an exceptional partner to have. He was gregarious, elegant, honorable and a great gentleman—at all times, in all places.”
“Pen Tudor was not only a dear friend, but a wonderful and wise business adviser,” Bert Decker told Adweek. Tudor served on the board of Decker Communications. “I had the opportunity to observe his wisdom and character and integrity firsthand. Yes, he was a great businessman, but even more so a great person. He was patient and humble and kind, and loved to be with people.”
Tudor attended Loyola University and the University of Southern California, where he earned an MBA.
His wife, Mary Alice, whom he married in 1961, died in 2018. He is survived by two of his children, Mary Elizabeth Tudor and Douglas MacLean Tudor, and his grandchildren, Emory Tudor and Bradford Tudor. His son, Bradford Pendleton Tudor, died in 1985.
The family will hold a memorial service at 11 a.m., April 23, at El Montecito Presbyterian Church, 1455 East Valley Road, in Montecito.