Obituary of John MacDonald Penney

John MacDonald Penney, 69, passed away of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on June 6, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. He was born March 25, 1950 to Carson and Olive Penney in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. A 20-year resident of Olympia, Washington, John also lived in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Montreal, Quebec; and Toronto, Ontario.

He attended Dalhousie University in Halifax and worked in information technology, mostly as a software engineer, for many companies in Canada, the United States, and Puerto Rico.  Over the years, John worked in or spent time in every Canadian province except Yukon, and every U.S. state except Alasika and West Viriginia.

John married Virginia Mathieu (Nov. 19, 1971) in Halifax; Roseann Serven (Mar. 10, 2001) in Olympia; and Helen Miller (July 15, 2017) in Lacey, Washington.

John loved to read, was a fan of Shakespeare, and was an amateur historian with a particular interest in WWII. He rode motorcycles for over 50 years, and loved to play duplicate bridge for which he achieved the level of Bronze Life Master.  He was a member of the American Contract Bridge League, and co-owner of Olympia Duplicate Bridge Club.

He was very intelligent and taught himself to read at age three.  He continued to read non-fiction, mostly history, for his lifetime. John would frequently be caught reciting Shakespeare, and he enjoyed drawing attention to irony in life. John had a warm and loving personality. He was articulate, even-keeled, and a loyal friend.

He is survived by his wife, Helen Miller of Tumwater, Washington; sons, Jay Penney (wife, Anna Federico and son, Zachary Penney) of Pincourt, Quebec, Jeffrey Penney of Edmonton, Alberta, Christopher Penney of Ottawa, Ontario; sister, Sally Ann Connolly of  Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia; nephew, David Francis Connolly of Lawrencetown; and first wife, Virginia Mathieu of Montreal.  He was predeceased by his parents; brother-in-law, Larry Connolly; and nephew, Trevor Carson Connolly.

Services will be held Saturday, June 29, 2019, 2:00 p.m. at the Olympia Bridge Club, 6200 Capitol Blvd. SE, Suite B, Olympia, WA 98501.  Services are pending in the Halifax area.