Michael Penney

HOPEDALE Michael Penney of Hopedale, formerly of Holliston, died Wednesday, Dec.17, 2008. Michael acquired knowledge and skills with persistence only comparable to a swift moving wave crashing into his beloved Nantasket Beach seawall. He was a brilliant intellectual, loving father, and caring friend whose childlike sense of humor and excitability were the conduits for his numerous engaging stories of adventure. Michael grew up in Medford, and established his passion for science and craft at an early age with projects like homemade X-ray machines. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1970 with a degree in geophysics, and promptly began working at The Virginia Institute of Marine Science researching wetlands. During this time, he co-owned a successful woodcraft business specializing in Japanese and free edge furniture. Shunning the specificity of a beckoning doctoral degree, he left Virginia to study environmental economics at the University of Rhode Island, from which he graduated with a master's in 1980. He then did paramount regulatory work at the Mass. Office of Coastal Zone Management in Boston, including orchestrating the installation of public walkways along the harbor, most notably at Rowes Warf. The personal computer boom of the mid 1980's piqued his interest, which steered him towards a career working on spreadsheet applications. He left the world of technology in 1996 to become an artist exploring countless mediums such as rock, cloth, wire and clay. His propensity for non-traditional techniques brought a uniquely "unfinished" stylization to his pieces, where his process-centric approaches were showcased. Personal experience and a passionate distaste for injustice lead him to advocate for the mentally ill with the altruistic fervor that hallmarked every pursuit in his life. He is survived by his son, Devon Penney; sister, Carol Finn and her husband, Joe, and their children, Anneli, Liesl and Jonathan; former wife, Joan Levinsohn; and numerous cousins and close friends. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to The National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI, P.O. Box 759155, Baltimore, MD 21275-9155. A memorial service for family and friends will take place at The Holliston Historical Society, 547 Washington St., Holliston, Jan. 3, 2009, at 2 p.m.