Penelope Ann Seddon

Penelope Ann Seddon passed away peacefully at her home in Kingsport, Tennessee, on Friday, April 17, 2015. Pen was born on August 10, 1939 in Bristol, Virginia, the daughter of the late Walter and Josephine Seddon. In childhood she lived in French Lick, Indiana; Baltimore, Maryland; and New Orleans, Louisiana, but called Bristol her hometown.

She was a proud member of the Tennessee High Class of 1957. In adulthood she lived in both Gelnhausen and Aschaffenburg, Germany; as well as Lampasas, Texas; Ft. Sill, Oklahoma; Abingdon, Virginia, and Johnson City, Tennessee.

Pen earned a Bachelor of Arts from the Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts and both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Arts in Art History from East Tennessee State University. Pen was a lifelong artist and musician, with a very inquisitive mind and a deep love of learning. She worked for 25 years as a Registered Nurse with a special certification in psychiatric nursing.

She was a longtime member of Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist church (HVUUC), where she was a founding member of the choir and a past chair of the Music and Coffeehouse Committees.

Pen is survived by her husband, Brian Hearl; son and daughter-in-law, Gil and Dona Jessee; daughter, Michelle Whitaker; two grandsons, Eric and Brian Pynenberg; and seven great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Pen's life will be held on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 3:30 pm at HVUUC, 136 Bob Jobe Road, Gray, TN 37615. The family will receive visitors immediately following the service.

In lieu of flowers, donations to HVUUC, P.O. Box 8383, Gray, TN 37615, are requested.