Herbert "Deke" Penfield

1918 - 2005

Herbert Penfield, former Marine aviator, insurance executive and community leader, died Saturday, Nov. 26, 2005, in Thousand Oaks. He was 87 years old.

Born Sept. 13, 1918, in Los Angeles, Deke Penfield graduated in 1937 from North Hollywood High School, where he first met the love of his life, who was to become his wife of 57 years, Anna Lou Penfield, nee Detweiler. After graduation, Deke attended UC Davis, leaving just six units shy of graduation in June 1941. He had learned to fly through the Civil Air Patrol and with the winds of war swirling, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and went to pilot school to become a Marine aviator. After graduation, he became a flight instructor in Corpus Christi, Texas.

When World War II came, he was sent to the Soloman Islands in the Pacific Theater, where he flew Corsair F4U fighter planes (VMF-217), bombing land bases and fighting Japanese Zeros. While stationed at Bougainville, it became known that Corsair engines had a problem with stalling during flight. Deke jury-rigged a seat behind the pilot's seat so that the chief engineer could diagnose the problem as Deke piloted the plane. The corrective "alert" issued, along with their photo together in the plane cockpit, is in the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla.

Deke remained in the Marines after World War II and served in the Reserves (VMF-124) until December 1949, when he retired as a lieutenant colonel. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

After the war, Deke worked with the insurance agency his father founded in 1919, Penfield Insurance, in North Hollywood and eventually became its president. Deke served as president of the San Fernando Valley Association of Insurance Agents, the North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce (1953) and North Hollywood Kiwanis Club (1954). He was Kiwanian of the Year in 1967. He also served as member of the finance committee of the United Methodist Church of North Hollywood.

After his retirement in 1980, he moved first to Vista and then Rancho Bernardo, where Deke and his wife, Anna Lou, lived for many years and joined the Rancho Bernardo Golf Club. Club members will remember his flagpole on the edge of the golf course, which displayed both the American and Marine Corps flags. After Anna Lou's failing health, the couple relocated to Camarillo.

Deke is survived by his daughter, Susan Penfield Wientjies of Camarillo; sons, Donald Penfield of Ventura and Thomas D. Penfield of San Diego; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the San Diego Kiwanis Foundation, 3276 Rosecrans St., Suite 301, San Diego, CA 92110; or Cal Aggie Alumni Association, (UC Davis), 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA.95616.

Assisting the family with funeral arrangements is Pierce Bros. Griffin Mortuary, 1075 E. Daily Drive, Camarillo; phone 1-805-482-2711.

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