Carolyn Jean Pennington

Centerville --- Carolyn Jean Pennington, a former resident of Centerville, passed away on November 19, 2021 in the Absolut of East Aurora due to complications from COVID-19. She was born on October 15, 1949 in Warsaw, a daughter of the late Lawrence and Evelyn June Powell Pennington.

Known as Jean to her friends, she grew up in western New York State, living in Warsaw and Centerville with her parents, Larry and June, her sister, Jane, and their ponies, Goldie and Ginger. When she was 10, her family moved from wintry New York to summer Tucson, Arizona. She attended Amphitheater High School followed by Cal Western University, where she became a certified teacher.

After graduation, she accepted a position teaching at an international school in Nairobi, Kenya. After a happy period of traveling, she returned to the US. In 1973, her son Joel was born.

She and Joel lived first in Encinitas, California, where she taught kindergarten. They would move to Arizona for a period before settling back in western New York, where Jean remained. During her final years, Jean lived in a house in Centerville, that had once been the home of her Aunt Sadie.

Jean is survived by her son, Joel, her daughter-in-law Nerinda, and their daughters, Uschi and Naiya, as well as her sister, Jane (Vuryl) Klassen, her niece Kelly and nephews Kurt and Karl.

A private memorial service will be held on June 2, 2022 in Freedom Cemetery. Bill Calkins will officiate.