Lucille Pennington

Lucille Pennington, 95, of Waynesville died Saturday, June 25, 2016 at her home. She had been in ailing health for several years.

She was born July 21, 1920 in Washington Township, Clinton County, the daughter of the late Isaac and Mae (First) LeForge and the eighth of nine children. She had five brothers and three sisters: Georgia LeForge, Jessie LeForge Moon, Hazel LeForge Zimmer, Samuel W. LeForge Sr, Oscar C. LeForge, L. Ray LeForge, Guy N. LeForge and Everett O. LeForge.

She graduated from Massie Township High School in Harveysburg, Warren County, in May 1941, six months before the attack upon Pearl Harbor. Throughout WWII, she supported the war effort by working for Remington Arms at the Peters Cartridge Factory at Kings Mills, Ohio. She worked 10- to 12-hour shifts each day, six days a week, never missing a day of work until the war ended and the factory closed in 1945.

She later became one of Ohio's first-generation of female school bus drivers, employed by the Clinton-Massie School District in the 1960s, back when it was commonly considered "impossible" for women to master all of the gear shifts necessary in order to pass a chauffeur's license driving test to qualify for such a job.

She became a sales clerk in the drapery department at JC Penney when the Dayton Mall opened in 1970. One of her co-workers was President Jimmy Carter's cousin, who needed time off work in order to attend the inauguration. She considered this a classic "Only in America at the Dayton Mall" story about her experiences there. She retired from this employment in 1985, after 15 years of service.

Soon bored with retirement, she began her "hobby" of working for the Olde Curiosity Shoppe in Waynesville, which later changed ownership to become Mad Anthony's Curio Shop. Here, she discovered such customers as Jonathan Winters and June Carter Cash, who were collecting antiques. She left the job in 2008, at age 88, when her health began failing.

She was preceded in death by her parents; eight siblings; three nephews and a niece; her first husband, Riley York; second husband, Jess D. Pennington; and a very diverse assortment of people she'd befriended over the years because of the history and experiences they shared in common or were interested in learning about.

She is survived by a daughter, Donna York of Waynesville; a son, William R. York of Oregonia; and numerous friends and relatives that she considered part of her family, her world, until the Alzheimer's Disease robbed her of such treasured memories.

What remains of her will be cremated, a private memorial service later will be held at the discretion of the family once they have recovered from such a loss and can remember how she lived instead of how she died. She will be buried at the Clarksville Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, cards or condolences, the family requests that contributions in her memory be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 644 Linn St., Suite 1026, Cincinnati, OH 45203. The Fisher-Edgington Funeral Home, Wilmington has been entrusted with the arrangements. To sign the online guest book, please go to edgingtonfuneralhomes.com.