Elinda Pennington fought a long courageous battle with cancer and succumbed to the disease at the age of 53. In life she was in tuned to nature. She had a great love for animals and a tremendous passion for the welfare and care of not only her animals, but all of them. She fed the birds year round and if she saw an animal in distress, she immediately came to their aid. She would inform other pet owners about giving their dogs water or getting the animal out of the hot sun. She would even buy dog houses for other people to use.
Elinda was a beautiful Native American and a member of several animal rights organizations, most notably the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. It has been said that she could coax any wild animal to come to her. She was a very good person with a big heart, always helping those in need.
Elinda’s death was a great loss to all who knew her. Though she was small in stature, she stood head and shoulders above others for her overwhelming passion for life and all living things.
Elinda’s husband, Herschel Pennington, has established The Elinda Pennington Memorial Scholarship in the Franklin County Community Foundation to help those special students who want to help animals and in this way carry on what Elinda would have done. Primary consideration for the scholarship is to be given to a student who is completing their undergraduate studies and continuing their education to become a Veterinarian. Secondary consideration is to be given to a Franklin County High School Student who plans to study in the Veterinarian field.
Elinda would have taken great pleasure in knowing that what she had devoted her life to will live on forever through this scholarship.