George Thomas (Tom) Pennington, a beloved husband, father, brother, grandfather, and great grandfather, died peacefully at age 86 at home in Gold Canyon, Arizona, on March 7, 2023. He was born in Detroit, Michigan to Karle and Helen Pennington on December 9, 1936.
Tom grew up in Harper Woods, Michigan. He learned the importance of hard work at a young age helping his father build their home, farming their land and delivering newspapers. He went on to serve in the Army during post-war Germany and married his wife Lorraine in 1959. Together they made their home in Center Line, Michigan before moving to Springfield, Virginia, later Gainesville, Virginia and finally Gold Canyon, Arizona.
Tom pursued a career in the computer field, he started working with first generation computers at Park Davis Pharmaceuticals. He went on to work for the Internal Revenue Service where he had a distinguished 39 year career before retiring in 1994.
He was a mentor to many, always the first person people went to for advice and help. Never too busy to lend a hand. He prized self-reliance and hard work and passed those traits onto his children. Tom loved the outdoors. He enjoyed golfing, hunting and exploring uncharted territories. He never took the same road twice. Tom loved his family, was a proud veteran of the U.S. Army and loved his country. Tom is survived by his loving wife Lorraine Pennington, his children Karen Anne (Steve) Schmidlkofer and Thomas Michael (Stephanie) Pennington, granddaughter Shannon (Richard) Cochran, two great grandsons Finn Thomas and Cameron Lee Cochran, his brother James (Mary) Pennington and a large extended family.
Please join us celebrating his life Wednesday March 15, 2023, 10:30 a.m. at St. George’s Catholic Church, 300 E. 16th Ave, Apache Junction, AZ. Burial at 1:30 at National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, 23029 N. Cave Creek Rd, Phoenix, AZ. In Lieu of flowers the family suggests memorials be made to St Jude’s Children’s Hospital www.stjude.org or Wounded Warriors Project Veterans Charity – Non Profit Organization for Veterans | WWP