Phillip Penny

Phillip Penny, 83, of Ashdown, Arkansas, passed peacefully to the heavenly afterlife on September 8, 2024 at Little River County Nursing Home. Phillip moved to Ashdown in 1967 with his wife Connie Trammell Penny. Phillip was born January 15, 1941 to Myrtle Mae Clearman Penny and James Floyd Penny in DeKalb, Texas. He graduated from DeKalb High School in 1959, a 4 year football letterman for the Bears and All District his Junior and Senior years. Phillip met Connie working at Lone Star Ammunition Depot when they were both attending Texarkana College; he played for the Bulldogs football team and Connie was a member of the drill team. Connie went on to The University of Texas at Austin, but she came back after graduation for Phillip, her one and only true love. They were married on June 6, 1964 at the First Baptist Church in Ashdown, married for 53 years when Connie passed away in 2017. Phillip was known for his commitment to faith, family and work. He was a tireless worker, talented with many skills. Though a 36 year employee of Ashdown's paper mill -- and proud Union member, Phillip was also known as an excellent carpenter and home builder, having built many homes, including his wife's dream house that remains a stately presence on Buck Wright Road to this day. Phillip often worked several jobs between the paper mill and a construction project, he worked round the clock. And at night when it was too dark to work you might find him on Millwood Lake or down in the Little River bottoms running trot lines and for a time he might even be in the raccoon woods. Phillip was a consummate outdoorsman, a gifted fisherman and hunter. He was a consultant to most every hunting club in Southwest Arkansas. Phillip was an old school gentleman sportsman who had great respect for nature, the environment and all the animals. He passed on these lessons of how to be a gentleman hunter and fisherman to his son, Phil, his grandsons, and all of his nephews and eventually great-nephews. As long as anybody can remember, Phillip was a committed Missionary Baptist and Deacon in regular attendance at Bethel Baptist Church and later the First Baptist Church of Ashdown. His faith was strong, and he was vocal about being a teetotaler and strongly encouraged others to do the same. Phillip always set the example, he was never a "do as I say, not as I do" kind of man. Phillip and Connie were lifelong sweethearts, and the flame of their love burns to this day. They were blessed with two wonderful children, Precious and Phil. Phillip and Connie were committed parents and always put the needs of their children and family first. Phillip would fight for Connie and his daughter and son -- literally! But that's a story best told in person. Phillip and Connie were very proud of Phil and Precious and for good reason. Precious attended Baylor, the University of Arkansas and graduated from Texas A&M-Texarkana. She was living in Fayetteville when she died over the Christmas Holidays in 2016. Her passing was untimely, and her family misses her to this day. Phil graduated from Arkansas Tech University and is today the owner of Rogue Trails, one of the largest mountain bike trail construction contractors in the United States. Phillip loved spending time with Phil and his wife Rebekah and their two sons, Maddox (aged 9) and Isaac (aged 7). Phillip served our country in the Vietnam War and was a proud Army Veteran. He committed much of his life to public service, an elected member of the Little River County Quorum Court for 28 years. Phillip was a patriot of the highest order, a member of the American Legion and his Union, he loved his town, county, state and country. Phillip was absolutely a proud and outspoken Democrat. Phillip always said the Democratic Party was the party of the working folks like us, and he was quick to correct anybody who would insult the Democratic Party by wrongly calling it the "Democrat Party." We can still hear him saying, "No Sir, it's the Democratic Party. You best cut out that nonsense right now." Phillip was known as a man who held firm to his convictions and beliefs, and he was not afraid to speak his mind. But he was also open to listening to people who might have a better idea. Though firm in his convictions and beliefs, over the years many of his opinions and views changed with the times. Back in the day, Phillip was a fiercely devoted Texas Longhorn, owing in part to it being Connie's alma mater but also the state of his birth. Some may recall back in October 1981 seeing the spray painted football score on a high steel beam out at Nekoosa, "Arkansas 42, Texas 11." Arkansas was not given a chance in that game, Texas was favored by about 28 points, and Phillip had told his many Razorback friends if Arkansas were to shock the world and do the impossible and beat Texas he would paint the score where everybody could see it. Nobody could ever confirm if Phillip was the actual person who painted that score, but being a man of his word, now that the paper mill cannot come after him for such mischief, it's safe to say that he most certainly did. As the years went by, both Precious and Phil and various nieces and nephews attended the University of Arkansas, and Phillip's allegiance moderated and he started choosing the Razorbacks first. He attended many an SEC baseball tournament and College World Series with Precious to call the Hogs. Phillip also backed the Ashdown Panthers and his nephews and nieces who attended AHS, and also the Texas High Tigers for Connie and Precious and at one time the Pleasant Grove Hawks for Phil. Phillip was like another son to Connie's parents, Isaac and Oletta Trammell. He fondly called Isaac, "Big'un" and let Isaac run his tractor to mow their gigantic lawn on Buck Wright Road -- even when Isaac aged such that he would mow the lawn again having forgotten he had just mowed it. Phillip also remained close to his seven brothers and three sisters, among them, Joe Penny, Johnnie Penny, Hugh Penny, Ruth Penny and Cecil Penny and all of their children. Phillip is survived by his loyal and committed son, Phil, of Rogers, Arkansas, daughter-in-law Rebekah and two grandsons Maddox and Isaac Penny. He is also survived by his brother-in-laws, Odean Davis and Mike Trammell and Mike's wife Karen, and too many nieces, nephews, grand nephews and grand-nieces to count. The family thanks Phillip's caregiver, Evelyn Richardson, for all the care she gave to Phillip in recent years as his health declined. They also thank the devoted and caring staff at Little River County Nursing Home for all the love and true affection they showed to Phillip in looking after him in his last days. The old expression "they broke the mold" truly applies to Phillip. He was a memorable man in so many ways. We will miss him but know that right now he is saying hello to Connie and Precious for us. Visitation will be at Madden Funeral Home Chapel in Ashdown on Saturday, September 14, 2024 from 1:00 pm until 2:30 pm. Then the procession will leave for a graveside service at Marvin Cemetery where Phillip will be laid beside Connie. Services are provided by Madden Funeral Services.

Phillip Penny

January 15, 1941 - September 8, 2024