RICHARD ELBRECHT LED UNIT AT STATE CONSUMERS AGENCY
by Robert D. Davila [email protected]
Sacramento Bee
June 1, 2008 Sunday
California
He was a lawyer who photographed historic Armenian churches in Turkey.
Richard A. Elbrecht expressed his concern for others with a firm
grasp of the law, a passion for preserving cultural treasures and
tireless dedication.
He championed the rights of consumers and small businesses as a lawyer,
including 27 years heading the legal services unit at the California
Department of Consumer Affairs. Although officially retired in 2003,
he continued working as a state annuitant to update a handbook for
small-claims court judges and consumer advocates.
He spent two decades with his wife photographing historic Armenian
churches and cathedrals in eastern Turkey. During nine trips, they
captured images of the rich heritage of a nation nearly destroyed by
20th-century genocide. In December, the couple agreed to donate the
collection of 157 prints to the Armenian Studies Program at California
State University, Fresno.
Mr. Elbrecht was in Fresno to meet with CSU officials about creating
a Web page for the project when he died Monday of heart arrhythmia
at his hotel, said his wife, Anne. He was 74.
"This collection is an invaluable gift," said Armenian studies lecturer
Barlow Der Mugrdechian at CSU, Fresno. "It will make the program the
foremost archive of these historic churches anywhere in the world
and accessible to everyone on the Internet."
Mr. Elbrecht devoted his life to helping others. He spent six years
as a lawyer at the Legal Aid Society in San Jose and became deputy
director of the National Consumer Law Center in Boston in 1970. He
wrote manuals on federal consumer law and helped draft the Wisconsin
Consumer Act.
He returned after two years to private practice in California and
was recruited in 1976 to create and lead the legal services unit of
the state Consumer Affairs Department. He drafted bills, testified
at administrative hearings, worked on litigation and promoted public
education of consumer protections. He put in long hours, often editing
legal memos at home past midnight.
"He was always upbeat and praising people for their work," staff
attorney Albert Balingit said. "He mentored and gave us so much
confidence. He had a big heart for helping the little guy."
Richard Allen Elbrecht was born in 1933 to a probate lawyer and a
homemaker in Cleveland. He grew up with a younger sister in Lyndhurst,
Ohio, where their father was mayor for 25 years.
He was a sports photographer for the campus newspaper at Yale
University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in
1955. He served two years in the Navy, earned a law degree from the
University of Michigan in 1960 and moved to San Jose. He spent six
years in private practice before joining the Legal Aid Society.
A 22-year marriage ended in divorce. He married Anne Elbrecht in 1983.
During a vacation trip to Turkey in 1987, Mr. Elbrecht and his wife
learned many Armenian churches had been abandoned since the 1915
genocide. The couple began a mission to document the ancient religious
monuments, traveling back roads without guides to photograph churches
built as early as the 7th century.
The images were widely exhibited at Armenian churches in California
and during international conferences of scholars on historic Armenia
at UCLA.
"Richard was an extroverted, super-high-energy person," Anne Elbrecht
said. "He wanted to start back into photography, and this was a
project we decided to do. It was a way to help others."
Richard A. Elbrecht Born: Aug. 10, 1933 Died: May 26, 2008 Remembered
for: Created and served 27 years as head of the legal services unit
at the state Department of Consumer Affairs; photographed historic
Armenian churches in Turkey and donated collection to California State
University, Fresno Survived by: Wife, Anne, of Davis; sons, Brian, of
Sacramento, and Steven, of Long Beach; and sister, Marilyn Zimmann,
of Salem, Ohio Services: 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Francis of Assisi
Church, 1066 26th St., Sacramento; luncheon to follow Remembrances:
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Armenian Studies
Program at California State University, Fresno, 5245 N. Backer Ave.,
M/S PB4, Fresno, CA 93740-8001.