William Michael Penny

1958 - 2018

William Michael Penny, born August 10, 1958, died at age 60 on August 13th, 2018, in his home in Becket, Massachusetts. Having struggled with cancer for a year and a half, he had entered hospice care, and was surrounded by his family during his final days. He is survived by his wife, Michele; sons, Daniel and Ethan; and siblings, Patricia, Gregory, and Kelly.

Bill was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Queens, New York and Belmore, Long Island. His father, William, Sr., owned a carpet and flooring company, and taught Bill the trade, but instead of joining the business, Bill decided to pursue economics and political science at SUNY Buffalo, where he met his wife, Michele. As a young man, he travelled and hiked around the world before settling with Michele in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope in order to raise a family. A leading member of the Buffalo activist community and food co-op, Bill was committed to cooperative living and served as President of his Brooklyn co-op board for eight years.

A skilled carpenter, Bill designed, built and furnished (with the help of friends and family) many of the rooms in his homes. He was also an accomplished cook, and loved to bring people together over good food and conversation. In chess, Monopoly, Scrabble, and all other board games, he was the undisputed family champion. Bill had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and could often be found with his nose in a book, and later, with a phone in his hand--to settle any question of how he knew whatever fact he happened to be explaining.

Though he had worked happily for many years as a researcher and eventual Vice President at Insurance Archeology Group (a legal consulting firm), Bill longed to be in the classroom. At age 51, he went back to school at Simmons College in Boston, where he earned two master's degrees in teaching and history. He taught history at a number of high schools in the Boston area before arriving at Fusion Academy, in Washington D.C., where Bill felt he was able to make the greatest impact on his students through the school's program of one-on-one instruction. To continue Bill's legacy at Fusion, his family has established the William Penny Memorial Prize in History, to be awarded annually to the best student history paper. In lieu of flowers, they ask for donations to fund the prize in his memory.

To his family, Bill was an adoring husband and devoted father. Patient, steadfast, and generous, Bill was foremost a man of integrity. Though he will be mourned, his family also hopes to remember him with joy, and invites friends and loved ones to attend a celebration of his life on August 18th, at Chester Common Table, in Chester Massachusetts. A short ceremony will be held at noon.