Penny Sue Grant

1960 - 2016

Penny Sue Grant
1960 ~ 2016
Penny Sue Grant was born in Kansas City, Kansas, to Dr. Garry L. and Sally E. Snodgrass on August 18, 1960. She passed away in Boise on August 16, 2016, following a lengthy illness. As a child, Penny lived in Kansas, Virginia and Missouri. In 1971, at the age of 10, she moved to Boise with her family.
She was a 1978 graduate of Capital High School where she excelled in vocal music, swimming and practiced ballet. She graduated from Boise State University in 1982 with a B.A. in Education and in 1983 earned a Masters in Visual Education from the University of Texas. Penny did an additional year of post-graduate studies at Boston College, obtaining a Certificate in Orientation and Mobility in 1984.
Penny began her special education career at the Huntsville Texas State Penitentiary with visually impaired clients. From Texas, she moved to the Chicago area where she married and had her two sons, Drew and Patrick.
As a special educator she worked with infants and children with multiple disabilities, served many of her clients as an itinerant teacher in impoverished neighborhoods, and worked with the visually impaired first in the Washington DC area and then Philadelphia. She made little money doing this -- it was a labor of love. In 2009, she returned to Boise.
First and foremost among her leisure pursuits, she was a lifelong, voracious reader, delving widely and deeply into British and European history, in particular--able to recite from memory centuries-worth of British Royal genealogy. She is still remembered for having exhausted the collections of Swarthmore College and the Delaware County, PA, public library system on these subjects!
Penny was a passionate and skillful crafter. Her family still comes across bits of the tissue and construction paper, stray silk flowers and wreath decorations. Her exquisite Christmas ornaments are treasured by her family. A devoted cat lover, Penny owned several over the years, including, most notably, a rather complacent, very obese black and white boy christened "Cow", and an abandoned, abused kitten originally called Sherlock (but quickly re-named "Psychopath" by certain terrified relatives, Penny's indignant objections notwithstanding!). Penny was a very talented card player and taught the entire family how to play pounce.
Exceptionally kind and loyal, Penny bore her long illness with remarkable cheerfulness and patience. She is survived by her two sons, Andrew Evans Grant (Meridian, ID) and Patrick Eamon Grant (Philadelphia, PA), her mother, Sally Evans Snodgrass (Boise, ID), her sister, Peggy Snodgrass Beck (Wallingford, PA), and twelve nieces and nephews--she loved them all, and was much loved in return. She will be missed by many. The family would like to thank Kimberly with Castle Rock Services, Inc., Kindred Nursing and Rehabilitation Center-Caldwell, and Shaw Mountain of Cascadia for the care they gave Penny and her family.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, August 22, 2016, 11 a.m., at St. Mary's Church, 2612 W. State St., Boise, ID 83702. A reception with light buffet will take place immediately afterward at the family home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be given to the charity of your choice in Penny's memory.