Beatrice Ann Penning

Beatrice Ann (Adams) Penning, Portage, Michigan, passed away in her sleep on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. She was 95 years old. Born on May 10, 1931, in Oshtemo, Michigan, Bea was a vibrant, attentive, and caring person who lived every day of her life to the fullest. 

She was a farm girl at heart. The daughter of Allan and Beatrice (Babcock-Harris) Adams, she grew up on a farm just outside of Kalamazoo as the youngest of a family with 5 siblings. Instead of learning the duties of a farm wife, Bea spent as much time as she could outdoors with her father and two brothers. There she learned how to drive a team of horses and a tractor by the age of 12.

Bea was very independent. She graduated from the Kalamazoo Central High School in 1949, riding a Greyhound bus from her farm to the Kalamazoo city bus station and walking to the old Central High School each day. She went on a double date and met the love of her life, Robert, that same year. They were married on June 30, 1950, moving into a house they mostly built themselves before Portage became a city. It was the only house they shared. 

The couple had three children. In between her busy life as a mother, Bea drove a bus for the Portage Public Schools and worked at the Upjohn Company, a predecessor of today's Pfizer. She cared for a variety of dogs, cats, and birds, having raised a pet pig named "Porky" as a girl. And as it turned out, driving a horse team was perfect practice for a school bus driver.

When Bob passed away in 2008, Bea continued her busy life caring for their home, gardening, cooking, and spending time with her seven grandchildren. She especially enjoyed summers relaxing and watching the wildlife at the now five-generation family property near Cadillac, Michigan. While it wasn't a farm in the sense she knew as a girl, it was called "the Farm" anyway. And for her entire adult life she had the same seven digit landline telephone number, from 1950 to 2026. Only the area code was changed. 

Bea is survived by her daughter Pennie (Richard Junger) and seven grandchildren, Gregory, Vivian, Tiffany, David, Jessica, Zachary, and Casandra. She was preceded in death by her husband Robert, sons Perry and Paul, and siblings Donald, Keith, Wilma, Jean, and Joan. 

Visitation is planned for Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2026, at 1:00 pm with a Memorial Service at 1:30 at the funeral home. Burial will be at Fort Custer National Cemetery at 3:00 p.m. the same day. 

The family would appreciate memorial donations be directed to Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan-Kalamazoo.

While at www.amsfuneralhomes.com please take time to sign Bea's guestbook and/or share a memory with her family.

The Penning family is being cared for by the Avink, McCowen & Secord Funeral Homes and Cremation Society, 5975 Lovers Lane, Portage, MI 49002. 269-344-5600.