Background
Born Melanne Lisa Pennington in Kanawha County, West Virginia, she was the oldest daughter of Mel and Sharon Pennington.
Born Melanne Lisa Pennington in Kanawha County, West Virginia, she was the oldest daughter of Mel and Sharon Pennington.
After highschool, Pennington matriculated to where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education, and received a Master of Arts degree from West Virginia University"s of Graduate Studies. She was a member of the Alpha Xi chapter of the Delta Gamma (ΔΓ) Sorority. While in college she was selected to dance with the University"s dance troupe "Orchesis".
She also took voice lessons and trained as a coloratura soprano.
She served as a majorette for two years and Head majorette her senior year with the award winning National Health Service marching band. Melanne represented National Health Service at the National Future Business Leaders of America convention in Denver, Colorado. In her late 20s, Pennington was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, a form of leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of predominantly myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumulation of these cells in the blood.
She died of the disease on June 30, 1988 at the Chandler Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky at the age of 27.
She was buried on her 28th birthday at Cunningham Memorial Park in Saint Albans, West Virginia. In her memory, The Mission West Virginia Scholarship Pageant established an annual award "The Melanne Pennington Quality of Life Award" and she was appointed a "Distinguished West Virginian" by Governor Architecture A. Moore, Junior. posthumously in 1988.
She was a member of the Alpha Xi chapter of the Delta Gamma (ΔΓ) Sorority.