90th birthday for Mr Penny
RICHARD Penny (known by many as Mr Penny) recently celebrated his 90th birthday with his fellow residents and staff at Symes Thorpe.
Born in Townsville on September 24, 1930, he began his career life in the banking industry and worked all over Queensland and Papua New Guinea for 37 years before receiving his calling to become an Anglican reverend.
Mr Penny was ordained by Father Scott at the St Paul’s Anglican Church in Ipswich in 1994.
He went on to work in a little Anglican church on Magnetic Island for six years.
When he wasn’t working in the church he was busy building extensions on the house he owned with his wife Jocelyn.
Mr Penny wrote two autobiographical books with the first one called The Call of Sails Rock, written about the history of banking and how much it was changing at the time, and the second book Parson Through is a more detailed collection of memories from his life.
Currently he is working on a third book that reflects on his experiences following on from the Parson Through collection of memories, which includes up until the COVID-19 pandemic currently affecting the world.
Mr Penny has been busy painting, with entries in the local shows in Toowoomba city, Toowoomba Grammar School and Downlands College.
He enjoys using watercolours mostly however, more recently has taken to acrylics for his portraits of the staff and friends at Symes Thorpe, where he has resided for eight years.
A close friend and local artist Dr Sharon Wilkinson recently presented Mr Penny with a portrait she herself had produced as a gift for his 90th birthday.
This is proudly displayed at Symes Thorpe for others to see.
Mr Penny has also assisted with many services of faith for the residents at Symes Thorpe together with many morning prayers to lift the spirits and give thanks.
He is the proud father of two children and three stepchildren, two grandchildren and seven step-grandchildren who keep in contact and visit often.
He has even taught himself technology and enjoys facetiming with friends and family.
When asked what advice he would share with the younger generations, Mr Penny laughed heartily replying. “You’ve got to be able to laugh and also laugh at yourself, there can be a lot of hurdles to jump and if you don’t have that ability it can make life difficult.”
MR PENNY WAS ORDAINED BY FATHER SCOTT AT THE ST PAUL’S ANGLICAN CHURCH IN IPSWICH IN 1994.