Anna “Penny” Dahl

Born Anna Louise Penrod over 100 years ago on a farm near Dunmore, KY, Penny came very close to reaching the age of 101. She passed away in her sleep, in her own bedroom in North Bend, OR, just as she had wanted.

Penny was the youngest of five children born to Pearl and Nina Penrod. Her mother died when she was very young, after which her father moved the family to Dayton, OH. It was the time of the Great Depression, and her family was very poor. She said school and books were the only real pleasures she had growing up. Her great love of reading stayed with her all her life.

Penny graduated from high school in 1941 and like many people in her generation, her life was changed by the events on December 7th that year. She wanted to help with the war effort so, when she turned 18 in 1942, she went to work in a defense plant making Browning 50 caliber machine guns, while waiting until she reached the minimum age of 20 to join the US Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).

At some point during boot camp and Storekeeper school, she acquired the nickname “Penny”, which  she preferred to her given name, and was so known to friends thereafter.

Penny was assigned to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, TX “for the duration of the war plus 6 months”, which was the standard wartime enlistment period. She remained an additional 6 months, training her male replacement, until she was discharged as a Storekeeper 2nd Class (SK2c), in 1946. Penny used the GI Bill to enroll in business college and completed her Executive Secretarial coursework just in time to apply for a job as a civilian secretary for the US Air Force, overseas. She was sent to Occupied Japan, where she met her future husband, Ed Dahl, a USAF Tech Sergeant at the time. They married in Japan in 1951.

Thus began her next 21 years of service as a USAF spouse and as a mom to two USAF “brats”, Gail and Mark. Her many interests included competitive bowling, cribbage, swimming, sewing, and of course, reading. She enjoyed the travel associated with Ed’s changes in duty stations, moving eight times with him, including a four-year tour in Hawaii and a return assignment to Japan, before Ed retired in 1972 at Mather AFB, CA. For the next 39 years, they continued to travel together, overseas and around the US. But their favorite destination was Hawaii, and they returned many times over the years. In 2011, when Ed showed signs of developing dementia, they made the hard decision to leave their home in Rancho Cordova, CA, and move to Oregon to be closer to Gail and Mark.  They joined the retirement community at Inland Point, the “Cottages” where Penny lived independently until the final weeks of her life.

Penny will be remembered for her welcoming smile, her genuine interest in other people, her love of reading and for being an avid fan of Jeopardy. She was a smart dresser with a hat for every outfit. She was a patriot, and took great pride in having served her country. She is survived by her daughter, Gail Dahl, her son, Mark Dahl and his wife Wanda, grandchildren Miles Dahl and wife Sarah, Emily Messmer and husband BJ, Rose Dahl and husband Daniel Eisen, and their families. Services will be held at a later date.