Pete Pennington started out conducting plant tours before he became a salesman for the Kentucky company best known for manufacturing Louisville Slugger baseball bats.
For Mr. Pennington, selling products for Hillerich & Bradsby Co., the sports equipment manufacturer in Louisville, wasn't a job. He had a way with folks, enjoyed the game of baseball and believed strongly in the products he sold, especially gear that carried the Louisville Slugger label.
"Pete was intelligent and a great salesman," said Jack Carney, a co-worker from Louisville whose sales territory includes Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia. "But the best part was that he was a great human being."
Mr. Pennington's sales job first took him to Mechanicsville, Pa., where he sold sports equipment to dealers and merchants along the East Coast.
In the late 1960s, his job brought him and his family to Atlanta, where they settled in Stone Mountain. He was awarded an even larger territory in the mid-1990s that based him in St. Petersburg, Fla., but he and Susan Rabbeth Pennington, his wife of 44 years, kept a residence in metro Atlanta.
On Jan. 2, Albert W. "Pete" Pennington died at his home in Roswell from complications of bladder cancer. He was 69. A funeral was held Saturday at Northside Chapel Funeral Directors and Crematory.
Mr. Pennington was a business major at the University of Louisville when he answered an ad for tour guides at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. After earning his degree, he went from giving tours to selling sports equipment, his sole job in what became a 42-year career.
"Some people think of their professions as just jobs, but my father loved his job," said a son, Brent Pennington of Roswell. "He grew business and was considered one of the best salesmen in the country."
Mr. Pennington's profession allowed the family to rub elbows with professional sports figures and athletes. He befriended former Braves manager Bobby Cox and Bill Acree, the team's traveling secretary. The family attended spring training baseball camps in Florida.
Two sons, Brent and Todd, former Roswell High baseball players, worked out with the best equipment on the market.
"We had a batting cage in our backyard and a soft-toss machine in our basement for when it was cold outside," Brent said. "He kept us in sports and we didn't go with anything that didn't have ‘Louisville Slugger' on it. He was passionate about that product."
Hillerich & Bradsby Co. supplied a company jet so that colleagues could attend the Kentucky native's funeral.
"He left a lasting impression on everybody he met," said Mr. Carney, the salesman. "He was always asking about your well-being and your family."
Additional survivors include his wife, Susan Rabbeth Pennington of St. Petersburg; sons Brent Pennington of Roswell and Todd Pennington of Newnan; a sister, Linda Pennington of Largo, Fla.; and two grandchildren.
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