Harvel Leon Penrod

May 4, 1931 - January 2, 2023

Harvel Leon Penrod was born in Lakeside, Arizona on May 4, 1931 to Harvel and Louise Penrod. He and his siblings, Afton and Arduth, spent their childhood in the beautiful White Mountains area of Arizona which was beloved by Leon his entire life. His Dad would often bring Leon with him while he was working and he taught Leon while he was very young the value of hard work. He had a paper route when he was eight, and when he was 11 he was sent 30 miles north to take care of the lambs from a flock of 2,000 sheep. By the time he was 12 years old he was breaking horses which he did each year until he graduated from high school.

Leon began his schooling in a one-room schoolhouse near his grandparents ranch and later attended elementary school in Lakeside where he remained until he began his high school years. After his freshman year, his parents decided he should attend Snowflake High which was a larger high school. He did this for two years, until he talked his parents into letting him return to Lakeside for his senior year because he disliked the two-hour bus ride each day. There were only four seniors that year and Leon enjoyed participating in all the activities. These included baseball, basketball, drama, and starting the first ever school newspaper and yearbook at the high school.

After graduating from high school Leon began working a job with his uncle, Royal Rhoton, who was a building contractor, a job with the Forest Service, and a job at the sawmill in McNary, AZ. In the fall he decided to enroll at Arizona State College at Tempe, AZ (now ASU). His education was interrupted when he needed surgery for appendicitis and experienced complications from the anesthesia. After returning home he decided to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was called to the New England States Mission, Cambridge, Massachusetts arriving there February 7, 1951. Leon spoke fondly of his missionary service and years later he and Annette enjoyed visiting the East Coast and visiting some of these mission sites.

After he returned home from his mission he was drafted into the Army during the Korean War and completed basic training at Fort Ord, California. He was then sent to Fort Bliss, Texas where he spent the rest of his 2 year service at a radar training school. He was honorably discharged in April 1955 and once again returned to Lakeside. He worked for a building contractor and part time with his Uncle Royal as a carpenter. In the Fall he continued his education at Arizona State College. During his breaks from school, he returned to Pinetop to work with his Uncle as a carpenter until he graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering in the Spring of 1959.

He met Annette Cunningham at a dance in the fall of 1958 and it didn’t take long for him to realize he wanted to marry her. They were sealed in the Mesa Temple on June 4, 1959. After spending a few months living in Lakeside, Leon was hired by North American Aviation in El Segundo, CA, and began work for them on August 13, 1959 as an Electrical Engineer. He later took a job with Autonetics in Downey, CA. Eventually the company moved to Anaheim and in 1961 Leon and Annette purchased their current home in Fullerton, California. During his time at Autonetics he worked on radar technology for programs including aircraft, missiles, and tanks. He also worked in the Space Program–which put men on the moon, the Apollo rocket mission, and the Space Shuttle. Leon retired from Autonetics in January of 1990.

Leon was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints his whole life. He served faithfully and willingly in the many callings he received, including counselor in the Bishopric, High Priest Group Leader, Stake High Council, Stake Clerk and many others. Leon became interested in family history work and was called as Director of the Family History Program of the Fullerton Stake. In 1997 he and Annette were called to serve in the SLC Family History Mission which they very much enjoyed. In their retirement they enjoyed traveling extensively all over the world including to the Holy Land, the Canadian Rockies, and the East Coast.

Leon is survived by his wife Annette, children Teri (Scott) Crawford, Brent (Julie) Penrod, Steven (Ashley) Penrod, 19 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son Carey (Fawn) Penrod.