That was how Felicia Pennington was described by her longtime friend and neighbor, Dick Goodwin. Felicia was proud of her Texas-New Mexico roots, including the fact that her mother rode into Northern New Mexico on horseback to homestead, with a pistol on her hip and a new husband at her side. They helped build a small town ....but when the weather did not support farming the family moved back to Texas where Felicia spent most of her adolescent life. She attended the University of Texas but dropped out so that her brother could go, as there was not enough money for both of them.
Felicia came to the DC area during WWII to "work in the war effort” and met and married her true love, Donald Pennington, a professor at the Naval Academy. They did not have children, but she was adored by all the neighborhood children. “You could always talk to her….she had a lot of insight and wisdom”, remembers Dick Goodwin. “And she was so thankful for everything she had.”
She was a long term member of our congregation and deeply committed to the ministry of the church. She moved to Manressa around the year 2000, when Bill Hathaway got to know her. “She was wonderfully gracious and faced life and death with remarkable dignity.” Felicia Pennington died on February 6, 2007.
In keeping with her giving nature she left a bequest of $238,000 to our church. These funds will be used to increase the Endowment Fund, retire some debt, and support mission and capital projects. Dearly loved by all who knew her, Felicia G. Pennington’s legacy will live on at First Presbyterian Church!