Penny Pennington

Penny Pennington, Mac '65

Perhaps there was a hint of Penny's future in the Cadet Yearbook. The book notes that she was involved in the Spanish club.

As it turns out, Penny's life has been one of dedication to a couple specific focuses. She became a mother and a traveler, via being an independent contractor for a travel agency, far away from Decatur.

Let me share what her present travel agency's website says, giving a hint of how far back this goes:

Penny Taylor's interest in travel started in 5th grade when she was assigned to do a report on Venice, Italy. Some years later she arrived in Venice on a sunny celebration-filled final day of Carnivale, and the experience cemented her joy of discovery and her thirst for travel. She's now been a travel consultant for over 25 years.

Since MacArthur, Penny became an authority on travel and a worldwide traveler herself, in the process:

Penny Taylor, CTC, ...specializes in creating wonderful vacations or cruises to Europe and Mexico. She enjoys creating Independent Tours for her personal travels. Penny has recently been to Cancun, Mexico; Hawaii; Eastern U.S.; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Canada and Florida Keys. She cruised to Mexico on RCCL.

Penny has directly shared the following with this blog:

I went to SIU for two quarters and lived at Steigal Hall. I then went to Lincoln College for a year. Moved to California in 1968. I brought a one way ticket and I hoped to get a job with the airlines. I did. I worked the ticket counter at LAX for about 4 years.

While working for the airlines, I earned an AA degree from a Los Angeles college, and then went full time to Valley State and
graduated in '74 with a BS degree in Business Marketing. I worked for a short time for McDonalds, Inc., in their Hollywood corporate offices.

I got married in '75, had a wonderful son in '78, and divorced in '80. About 3 years after my divorce, I went to work as manager of a travel agency. I continued in that position untill 2008. I remarried in 1992 and inherited a great step daughter, 18 days older than my son.

My husband is retired for the most part, does consulting. He has been a marine engineer, however, for the last 20 years has been involved in design work, a lot of after-market for cars.

My son is a Los Angeles Sheriff and my step daughter is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Vermont. Two grandchildren ~ my son has a daughter 10 months and my stepdaughter has a son 6 months.

Most interesting place I visited was Russia in the late 80's, still very communist. My favorite place is Venice. I am in the process of retiring, about 18 months to go and counting.

This little note is to be found on her agency's site, and it adds a bit of an insight:

She is thankful that her husband is a great travel companion who enjoys exploring new destinations as much as she does. Penny's cherished children and even her grandchildren are seasoned travelers too. The apple, as they say, does not fall far from the tree.

Penny's answer to the car question follows:

My first car in California was a Bronx 1968 Camaro four-on-the-floor and the car I have now is a 2009 Jaguar - red. I had a red Covair in Decatur after high school. In high school I drove my Dad's Valiants; oh, how a hated those cars. Now that I look back, I was really lucky to have a car at my disposal.

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The virtual reunion continues, before the actual one takes place on June 24-25, 2011, in Decatur. Join in and share what you've been doing for the last 45 years, with your classmates. If you are a Mac '65 graduate, please submit your short bio sketch to me via clicking on this safe contact form here. End your bio with your answer to this fun question: "What was the make and year of the first vehicle that was all yours, and what kind/year is your present one?"