Cooper Honors Murrysville’s Mary Bach with House Citation

June 17, 2025

HARRISBURG – During House proceedings last week, Rep. Jill Cooper (R-Westmoreland) honored Murrysville resident and well-known consumer advocate Mary Bach for serving as a community volunteer for 50 years.

“It takes a truly special person to serve the community the way Mary does and for as long as she has. I would guess that as a consumer advocate, she has helped Pennsylvanians save tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars,” Cooper said. “Between making certain shoppers are aware of dishonest sales practices and calling attention to scams and fraud, she is a renowned expert.”

Bach is currently serving as the Consumer Issues Task Force chair for the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons. She began her professional career as a high school teacher, and was elected to serve as a member of the Municipality or Murrysville’s council and then to serve on the Franklin Regional School Board.

For 18 years, she wrote a column named Consumer's Eye View, for Tri-State Food News and The Food Industry Advisor, two grocery industry trade papers. She has served as a panelist on the national Consumer-Industry panel of the Direct Marketing Association, and on the Task Force for the Protection of Older Consumers, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.

Her work in consumer advocacy dates to 1978, when she organized a Coupon Clippers group for women in Westmoreland County and taught adult classes called "Winning at the Supermarket” at the Penn-Trafford and Franklin Regional School districts. She is a past vice president of the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association Scanning Certification Advisory Board, of which she was a member for 30 years and also served a two-year appointment on the Federal Trade Commission Education Committee. She also teaches classes for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the Pathways Institute for Lifelong Learning.

She has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Donahue and Dateline. She has also been interviewed and quoted by publications from Good Housekeeping, Business Week, and Money Magazine to USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, and Philadelphia Inquirer.

Bach joined Cooper, other legislators and guests on the House floor on June 9, when she received a House of Representatives citation. Such documents are written by Pennsylvania’s Legislative Reference Bureau for the purpose of recognizing important achievements of Pennsylvania residents. They are a permanent part of Pennsylvania’s legislative record and can be found in the official Pennsylvania State Archives for generations to come. Her achievements were also recognized by Rep. Rob Matzie (D-Beaver), who was standing in for House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D-Philadelphia/Delaware).

To view the video of Bach’s recognition during House floor proceedings, click here.

Representative Jill Cooper
55th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jordan Frei
724.875.8450
jfrei@pahousegop.com
RepJillCooper.com / Facebook.com/RepJillCooper