After graduating from St. Paul’s, Penn came to Princeton, where he majored in geology, was president of Cottage, played varsity hockey for three years, and was on the football squad. He was an undergraduate member of the Council on Athletics.
When war came Penn joined the Marines, earning two Purple Hearts. He survived one of the bloodiest battles ever — the assault and capture of Iwo Jima. He was truly an American war hero. He deferred all honor and recognition to his comrades whose lives had been taken. He called them “the finest American men I have ever known.”
In 1947, Penn married Dorothy Jane Langfitt. They operated a dairy farm in Dover Plains, N.Y., until 1980, when Penn’s love of the American West took them to Hamilton, Mont. There they found and purchased for their retirement a log cabin on a beautiful mountain retreat property. Sadly, Dorothy died in 1998.
Penn is survived by his brother, Earle Jr. ’39; sons Penn Jr., George, Haven, Tim, and Jeff ’76; and five grandchildren. We join them in mourning the loss of this most valiant and honorable man.