Howard George Pennington

A memorial service for Howard George Pennington, 78, a Carson City resident for the past eight years, was held March 23 at Fountainhead Foursquare Church in Carson City.

Mr. Pennington died March 18, 2002, at Carson-Tahoe Hospital. He was born Dec. 6, 1923, in Detroit, Mich., to Al and Esther Pennington.

He planned a career as an Army officer and attained the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army ROTC program and a congressional appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1940.

Medically disqualified for military service, he served as a civilian hand-to-hand combat instructor for the U.S. Navy during World War II.

He pursued a career as a writer in advertising and as a free-lance writer on motor sports for many national publications. After moving to Hawaii in 1967, he turned his focus to ocean research issues.

He served as acting Marine Affairs coordinator for the state of Hawaii and was an ocean resource project coordinator and assistant to the governor of Hawaii. He was also a Coast Guard licensed sea captain and avid lifelong sailor. He was the author of the book "The New Ocean Explorers: Into the Sea in the Space Age."

Among his survivors are his wife of 55 years, Lois Pennington of Carson City; daughter Alice Anderson of Newbury Park, Calif., daughter Laura Rogers of Kaiwa-Kona, Hawaii; son Rev. Al Pennington of Zephyr Cove; six grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Walton's Chapel of the Valley is in charge of arrangements.