Junius Myrl Penny

Funeral services for Junius M. Penny, 85, Lawrence, will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Lawrence Bible Chapel. Burial will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery.Mr. Penny died Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008, at his home.He was born July 29, 1923, in Lawrence, the son of Myrl N. and Addie Underwood Penny. He lived in Emporia for many years and moved back to Lawrence in 1999. He received a degree in civil engineering from Kansas University, where he played football.Mr. Penny served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a radiology technician in Dacca, India.He first worked as an engineer at Black and Veatch in Kansas City. He then took over Penny’s Ready Mix Concrete in Emporia. He was the founding member of Emporia Enterprises Development.He served for eight years and was chairman on the Emporia school board. He helped establish the Flint Hills Vocational Technical School and was president of the Chamber of Commerce from 1968 to 1969. He was elected to Emporia’s City Commission from 1979 to 1983 and also served as mayor from 1981 to 1982.Mr. Penny was a founder and primary promoter of the Emporia Christian School. He was awarded a proclamation as elder statesman in recognition for his contribution to Emporia on April 20, 1983. He was a former board member of the Columbia Savings and Loan in Emporia. He was also a member of the American Legion in Emporia.Mr. Penny was Kansas All State Football Team Captain in 1940, and was named High School All-American Honorable Mention in football in 1943. He received the Gospel Missionary Union Gold Award in 1994 in recognition of commitment to the Great Commission. He received the Kansas Contractors Association & Associated General Contractors of America 40 Year Service Award, and the Order of United Commercial Travelers of America 50-year recognition in 2004.He was a former president of the Kansas Block Association and president and lifetime member of National Society of Professional Engineers. He served as a state of Kansas Advisory Committee Member for Vocation Education, Trade and Industry Program for Emporia public schools from 1961 to 1963, and in the Kansas Cavalry in 1975 for promotion of industry in Kansas.He married Mary Lou Nelson on Feb. 6, 1943. She survives, of the home.Other survivors include two sons, David and wife Carmen, and Bill and wife Marlene, both of Lawrence; three daughters, Anne Urish and husband James, Colorado Springs, Colo., Susan Schmidt, Lawrence, and Debby Hydeman and husband Doug, Lenexa; three brothers, Paul and Stanley, both of Lawrence, and Charles, Houston; two sisters, Margaret Bruce, Wichita, and Lois Cowan, Tulsa, Okla.; 21 grandchildren, Junius Mark, Isaac, Ruth, Michael and Elijah Penny, Luke, Mimi and Abbie Urish, Dana Kay Markoff, Herbert Jr. and Scott Schmidt, Laura Hedges, Sarah Smith, Nathan, Jonathan and Scott Penny, Kimberly Swan, Holly Teeter, and Joshua, Noah and Micah Hydeman; and three great-grandchildren.The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence, with a time of sharing at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.The family suggests memorials to the Avanti Ministries for Canadian Indian Radio or the Parkinson’s Foundation, sent in care of the mortuary.Online condolences may be sent at warren mcelwain.com, subject: Penny.