Frances Penick

Frances Mae Penick, 83, beloved wife, sister, mother, grandmother, great- grandmother, and friend passed away, surrounded by loved ones, on Monday afternoon, July 25, 2011 at Midland Memorial Hospital.

Frances was a Christmas baby, and only girl, born to sharecroppers Owen and Edna Blackwell on December 26, 1927 on a small farm outside of Okemah, Oklahoma. Frances remembered picking cotton in the cotton fields in Oklahoma at a very young age and getting one dress and a pair of overalls every year, as well as her family having only a horse and cart for transportation. She was a “pretty good” basketball player in school in Okemah, but turned in her uniform on a big game day to marry her husband and companion of 66 years, Wilbur Dean Penick. After meeting on the streets of Okemah, “going to country dances with kerosene lamps”, and riding around in Dean’s 1932 touring Chevy with yellow wheels, they were married on February 23, 1945, immediately before Dean was drafted into the Army and shipped out to the Philippines at the end of World War II. She was 17 and he was 18. While she waited for Dean, she picked grapes and packed fruit in Reedley, California and worked on Cannery Row while Dean was stationed at Fort Ord in Monterey, California. Upon Dean’s return, Frances, or “Sug” as Dean and her close friends and family called her, helped her husband establish what would be a successful casing pulling business in Midland, doing everything from secretarial work and bookkeeping to working on locations with Dean and killing rattlesnakes. On May 17, 1956, they were very excited to welcome their beloved son, Jerry Dean. Frances was an avid bowler, competing until very recently, and enjoyed George Strait, Engelbert Humperdink, traveling to Reno every year, shopping, manicures and a good cup of coffee. Frances was also a proud member and officer of Masonic Lodge #623, where she was a deMolay Mother and a Boceant.

Frances was preceded in death by her parents, and brothers Dan Blackwell, Orvin “Blackie” Blackwell, and Nathaniel Blackwell. Frances is survived by her adoring husband and best friend, Wilbur Dean Penick and her beloved son, Jerry Penick and his wife Carla, all of Midland. She is also survived by granddaughters Lindy (Penick) Rafeek and husband Asif of Midland, and Jesslyn Penick, also of Midland; and grandsons Cameron Penick and wife Kim of Midland, and Kellen Penick of Lubbock. Frances was also a very loving and proud great-grandmother to Ryann Rafeek and Conner Penick.

She will be desperately missed by her friends and family, but we are so grateful to have had our “Mimi” as long as we did.

Family will receive friends on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 from 6:00PM to 7:00PM. A funeral service will be held at 1:00PM on Thursday, July 28, 2011 at the Ellis Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will follow at Resthaven Memorial Park.