(April 28, 2016 - by Harold Goerzen)  “A ready smile and truly sincere interest in your emotional and spiritual state of mind and soul” were characteristics that held broadcaster Ted Haney in good stead while serving with the U.S. Navy followed by nearly six decades of service in missionary broadcasting.

“He had great people skills—they were A-plus,” described John Adams, a Reach Beyond missionary on loan to partner ministry Inspiracom (formerly World Radio Network, Inc.), who worked alongside Haney for several years.

“You knew he genuinely cared for you,” Adams related. “An arm around your shoulder and a ‘How are ya, buddy?’ was standard procedure for him. He also had a solid commitment to Jesus Christ and the cause of reaching the lost around the world.”

William Edward “Ted” Haney of Orange, Calif., died at Scripps-Green Hospital in La Jolla, Calif., on Thursday, March 31, after succumbing to complications following a medical procedure to correct leaky valves in his heart. He was 89.

Born on May 26, 1926, Haney grew up in Sunnyside, Wash., a small farming town founded by devout Christians from the Midwest. Although the community had only 2,500 people, it boasted 34 Christian churches and was nicknamed “The Holy City,” wrote Haney in his memoirs. “It was indeed a wonderful place to grow up. Work, school, scouting and music were all part of my upbringing.”

At age 6 he started picking cherries for a neighbor for a penny a pound. At age 11 he began working at his dad’s hardware/furniture store, dusting furniture on Saturdays for 10 cents an hour. “A good job and wage for an 11-year-old in those days,” Haney said.

During high school he played trumpet in a school known for excellence in music, winning honors in competitions with other schools in band, orchestra, trumpet trios and solos. “It was also a thrill to lead the school pep band, organizing an orchestra to play in the church services and playing lead trumpet in the high school jazz band,” Haney wrote.

Soon after becoming an Eagle Scout at age 17, he enlisted in the Navy and began training in electronics. Upon graduating from radar school, he was assigned to a base at a port outside Oakland, Calif.

While Haney’s initial assignment was a menial one—guarding a clothesline—he said he was grateful for the job because “God got my attention and changed the direction of my life through a Bible study conducted on the base.”

Haney was later assigned to a troop transport and went to the Philippines and Japan. “At the end of the pier in Yokohama, I saw something that God used to lead me to my life work,” he said. “A young man and a boy were beating a drum and singing at the top of their lungs. I didn’t understand the words, but I knew the tune, ‘At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light.’”

That picture later prompted Haney to go to Japan as a missionary broadcaster. “For various reasons I never got there, but I ended up in the Philippines at a Christian university,” Haney explained. “That’s where I met my wife, Ruth, a nurse at a mission hospital. She grew up in the Philippines as the daughter of missionary parents.”

After five years in the Philippines, the Haneys returned to the U.S. where Ted studied at Stanford University. This was followed by 13 years of missionary service in Brazil and additional studies at Stanford where Haney completed his doctoral degree.

The Haneys then joined Far East Broadcasting Co. (FEBC) where Ted was director of research and then executive director of the mission.

After retiring from FEBC in 1990, he accepted a request to become a consultant for Reach Beyond, working with Inspiracom, a ministry with 14 Spanish- and English-language radio stations along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“His heart was in international broadcasting, so I invited him to join us and, much to my surprise, he did,” recounted Ron Cline, who was then serving as president of Reach Beyond. “That same joy and positive attitude has been his trademark wherever he has served. He was a great example to me as to how to deal with people and problems.”

Abe Limón, president and chairman of the Inspiracom board, said the trustees recognized Haney’s many gifts and within a year invited him to join the board, soon electing him as chairman and president—positions he held until 2011.

“At the time, Inspiracom was going through a rough transition period, and the Lord knew the right man to send to us,” Limón added. “He quickly gained the support of the board with his contagious smile and consensus-building style. He steadied our ship for many years.”

While serving as a consultant with Inspiracom, Haney also worked with other Christian broadcasting ministries in North America, and he co-founded the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters (NASB) which represents U.S.-based Christian broadcasters before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

His connections with the FCC came in handy when he was working to get a construction permit for Inspiracom’s FM station in Del Rio, Texas, after more than 10 years of waiting. The station, KVFE, went on the air in January 2014.

Glenn Lafitte, Inspiracom’s director of corporate affairs, said this was just one of many applications that Haney was instrumental in submitting and gaining approval from the FCC.

“His diplomatic skills helped us when there was a conflict over a competing application for our station in Yuma, Ariz.,” Lafitte added. “He also negotiated the acquisition of the Voice of America towers which have been used across the network. And his contacts enabled the network to acquire donated or deeply discounted equipment.”

Lafitte also credited Haney for initiating the management team concept when the network faced an important crossroads. “He was a great encourager to all who worked with him,” he said.

Haney wrote that “degrees, positions, titles and accomplishments amount to little before the Lord…. One day I want to kneel before God and say, ‘Here am I, Lord, with my wife, our four children and the family you have given me.’ I would like to be able to say as the apostle Paul said, ‘I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.’”

Ted is missed by his wife, Ruth, and four children, Kathy (and Dave) Enos, Bill (and Ruth) Haney, Debbie (and Dave) Browning and Michael Haney; as well as five grandchildren.

A memorial service is set for 2 p.m. Friday, April 29, at Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Santa Ana, Calif. A committal service will take place at Riverside National Cemetery on Friday, May 6.

Source: Reach Beyond