William “Penn” Zentmeyer passed away peacefully surrounded by family on the morning of January 1, 2025 at Lake Prince Woods Skilled Nursing in Suffolk VA at the age of 89 1/2.
Penn was born on June 26, 1935 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and lived a full and remarkable life. Until he went to college, he lived at the Zentmeyer family homeplace called Sunnyside in rural Patrick County, Virginia. Sunnyside was purchased by his great-grandfather John N. Zentmeyer in 1852. He lived there with his mother “Mamie” Jane Autrey Zentmeyer, of whom he said in early 2024 that he owed, “everything he ever was or ever achieved” to her. Also living at Sunnyside was his adoring father Peter “Leath” Zentmeyer, Jr. and brother, Robert “Bob” Leath Zentmeyer and grandmother, “Hattie” Moore Penn Zentmeyer.
Penn grew up in a time that most cannot imagine these days. Times after the Depression were hard and his father suffered from an undefined illness that baffled doctors of the day and kept him bedridden for 18 years. Living in such a rural area, the family had no electricity until Penn was a sophomore in high school. The house was heated by fireplaces in each room and there was no phone service or TV until he was in college. Chores as a boy included milking the cow, gathering eggs from the chicken house, working in the garden, and on Saturdays, it was Penn’s job to trim the wicks and refill all the oil lamps for lighting the house. By the time he was ten, he was preparing breakfast, often eggs and toast, for his mother and brother before they all went to school where his mother was an elementary school teacher. His boyhood was filled with joys and adventures a country boy should have including pet dogs and cats and goats and squirrels, as well as hunting, fishing, trapping, beekeeping, horseback riding, and skinny dipping in the North Fork of the Mayo River where his brother Bob taught him to swim.
After graduating from Hardin Reynolds Memorial School in 1953 in a class of 13, he attended Ferrum College before attending Virginia Tech. He was always Hokie football fan but Hokies know, that’s not always easy!
In the summers, he worked as a lifeguard at Fairystone State Park which he recalled fondly as fun, carefree times. In 1956, his brother introduced him to a pretty young classmate at Richmond Polytechnic Institute (now VCU), Ann Hunton Mitchell from Leesburg VA. Both were immediately smitten. Penn hitchhiked from Blacksburg to Richmond most weekends before they married on August 31, 1957. He graduated from VPI in 1958 and taught vocational education for several years. He and Ann lived in Leesburg, Orange, and Westmoreland County on the Rappahanock River, Virginia before moving to Richmond in 1962 so that Ann could finish her degree at RPI as he promised her father Claude Mitchell that she would. They lived happily in Chesterfield County until Ann’s untimely and shocking death in 1988 at age 52.
Penn worked at the Virginia Department of Agriculture for more than 30 years in a number of roles before retiring in 1991. If you knew Penn, you know he could and did fix just about anything. He was a talented landscaper and took great pride in his yards and maintaining the family homeplace Sunnyside. Sunnyside was built in the mid-1800s and stands in remarkable condition thanks in large part to Penn’s efforts and devotion to his family and homeplace. He also took up flying small private airplanes in the 1960s and enjoyed it well into the 1990s.
Penn was very lucky to have found love again with Anita “Nita” Page McLemore with whom they shared many friends and good times. They married on October 19, 1997 and shared nearly 30 years together. He and Nita left their beloved Surreywood home in September 2023 and moved to Suffolk VA to downsize and be nearer to her family. Nita was devoted to Penn to the very end.
Penn was a devoted father and family man and loved to share his family history. He and Ann had 2 daughters, Jan Penn Zentmeyer and husband, Glen A. “Skip” Skinner, and Suzanne Wynn Zentmeyer Stewart survive their dad. He is also survived by 4 grandchildren, Anna Penn Skinner and husband, Charles “Chip” Wilson Jackson V, Sydney Autrey Skinner Stockmore and husband, Sean J. Stockmoe, Peter Mitchell Stewart, and LucyAnn Zentmeyer Stewart, and one precious great-grandson, Carter Joseph Stockmoe and 3 nieces. Penn is also survived by loving step-children, Ann Burton Barnes Heikens and husband Timmy, and Troy McLemore Barnes and wife Wendy, and grandchildren, Dillon Heikens and wife Emily, Camryn Heikens, Brianna Barnes, and Charles Barnes, and great granddaughter, Penelope Mehegan Heikens.
Penn was preceded in death by his parents and beloved brother Bob in 1995 and sister-in-law Betsy Lawrence Zentmeyer Wengert in 2023, but is also survived by loving and devoted nephews Leath and Larry Zentmeyer and their wives and children and grandchildren.
Penn’s ashes will be buried beside his wife, Ann in Oakwood Cemetery in Martinsville VA in the Spring of 2025. No flowers are requested. If individuals are interested, contributions can be made to historic Oakwood Cemetery for the care and upkeep of the grounds, www.oakwoodcemeterymartinsville.com. R.W.Baker & Co. Funeral Home, Downtown Suffolk Chapel is serving the family.
Perhaps not consciously stated but we believe Penn lived by this philosophy. “Your children will follow the footsteps that you leave for them. Walk in the direction of love, integrity, compassion and self-worth.”
