Richard E. "Dick" Pennington of Blackwell, Oklahoma, passed away Thursday evening, December 29, 2011, in the Bass Memorial Hospital in Enid, Oklahoma, at the age of 93 years.


Richard E. "Dick" Pennington was born on April 3, 1918, in Cherryvale, Kansas, to Charles E. and Serena C. (Pruitt) Pennington. His early years were spent in and around Cherryvale. At the age of nineteen he moved to Blackwell and began working at the Blackwell Mill. In 1941 he entered the United States Army Air Corps serving in England with the 8th Air Corps during World War II and attaining the rank of Technical Sergeant.
Following his discharge on October 22, 1945, he returned to Blackwell where he met and married Helen Louise Weigle on November 18, 1946, in Winfield, Kansas. In 1946 he began working for the Blackwell Zinc Company and worked there until the plant's closing in 1974. He then began working for Blackwell Steel Products as shop foreman, retiring in 1980. Richard held membership in the First Christian Church, Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion all in Blackwell. He was an avid woodworker and artist. He enjoyed coin collecting, playing the guitar, metal detecting and reading. He pursued many hobbies during retirement and was a skilled handyman.

He is survived by his wife of sixty-five years, Helen Pennington of Blackwell; a daughter, Candice Harraman and husband Fred of Blackwell; a son, Kirk Pennington and wife Gaye of Hesston, Kansas; two sisters, Beverly Davis of Arvada, Colorado, and Janice Pruitt of Exeter, Missouri; four grandchildren, Jamie Simons of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Michael Harraman of Blackwell, Erin Duvall of Bella Vista, Arkansas, and Garrett Pennington of Manhattan, Kansas; and seven great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three sisters, Doris Hall, Beth Cooper and Carol Gilmore; and a brother at birth.

Services are scheduled for 10:30 a.m., Monday, January 2nd in the First Christian Church in Blackwell with the Rev. Jeff Koch of the First Christian Church officiating. Burial will follow in the Blackwell Cemetery with military honors provided by the United States Army of Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.

Casketbearers will be Troy Simons, Evan Simons, Michael Harraman, Chris Duvall, Garrett Pennington, Art DeCamp and Max Smyth.

A memorial has been established in his honor with the First Christian Church in c/o Roberts and Son Funeral Home, 120 W. Padon, Blackwell, Oklahoma 74631.