William Bryant Penn was born on December 20, 1946, in Washington DC. He was the second child of Elmore Penn and Gladys (Mann) Penn. William Penn was also known as and most often called Billy. His wife, Mary A. Penn called him Bill. Mr. Penn passed on May 6, 2021, at UM Laurel Medical Center. He is survived by his sister, Rosie Jackson. William was raised in Warrenton, VA where he attended Taylor High School. He left high school to join the U.S. Army where he received his GED. William served two years with a tour of duty in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
After the army, William moved to Washington DC where he worked for a short period at the Art Gallery and The Government Printing Office. However, William’s career job was at Western Electric, a company that was part of the “Ma Bell” group. There he maintained parts for phones and repaired phones. William worked there until the Federal Government broke up the Bell monopoly. William then worked as a maintenance person at an apartment community close to home until he had a stroke in the year 2005. William was particularly good at carpentry and gardening. He kept a pristine lawn, front and back. He would always say to the neighborhood kids “keep off my grass”.
William did not like to travel, but he enjoyed sports. His favorite football team was the Washington Redskins. His favorite basketball team was the Lakers. However, William did sometimes root for the Wizards. He liked fishing, gardening, carpentry, and a good game of bid whist. This inspired his daughter Charmaine Penn-Boone to grow a garden and enjoy fishing. His daughter Arluster Penn to repair things around the house and his son William Jr picked up the love of sports and played football, basketball, and softball, from an early age.
William was raised by his grandmother Florence Louise Mann. In addition to his parents, William was predeceased by his brother, Elmore (Bo) Penn. He is survived by his wife Mary Ann Penn; three children; Charmaine Penn-Boone (Watts) and husband Jeffrey Boone, Arluster Celeste Penn (Impants), and son William B Penn Jr. (Buddy) and wife Tymeka Penn; He had nine grandchildren, Jamal Spriggs, Deja Spriggs, Shemar Smith Jr., William Smith, Sarah Woods, Richard Fair, Jade Penn, Joel Penn, and Autumn Penn; one sister, Rosie Jackson and her husband Ricky Jackson, one sister-in-law, Sylvia Jiles and husband Lewis Jiles; lots of nieces and nephews and a host of cousins.
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