Patricia Penelton spent her final moments doing what family and friends say she did best — serving.
The 74-year-old was at Centennial Christian Church in Fountain Park, leading a focus group that gathered insight from unhoused individuals in the neighborhood, and preparing for an upcoming mobile shower initiative, when a tornado that devastated the St. Louis region on May 16 struck the church, according to Sophia Kamanzi.
Kamanzi, a medical student at Washington University, shared her thoughts Tuesday afternoon at Penelton’s funeral service at the Austin A. Layne Renaissance Chapel in Jennings. She’s spent the last year helping execute a grant awarded to Centennial Christian Church through the school’s Center for Community Health Partnership and Research.
“I remember watching her (on May 16) and thinking about how awe-inspiring it was, the way she could work a room in a way that allowed people to feel comfortable enough to share their needs and their stories, while also making it clear who ran that room,” Kamanzi said, garnering laughs from nearly 100 people that were packed in the room.
Penelton’s homegoing service had so many attendees that the chapel had to open two overflow rooms.
“There are not enough seats in this room or any other to truly show how many lives she changed and how deeply she will be missed,” Kamanzi said. “Her mentorship has shown my friends and I what it looks like to move mountains, to bridge gaps in your community regardless of what the odds or the resources are. She was a second mother to me.”
Known by many as “Ms. Pat,” Penelton joined Centennial Christian Church in 1986 after she and her husband, Harry Penelton III, moved to St. Louis that year. She served as a church moderator, a deacon, an usher and as a choir member and worship leader.
Her husband of nearly 55 years stood before the room on Tuesday and thanked people for honoring his wife by wearing her favorite color, orange. He said she was wholeheartedly dedicated to community service.
During the pandemic in 2020, she and Harry led efforts to feed the local community by providing sandwiches that later evolved into serving hot meals. Since then, they’ve served meals through programs like God’s Helping Hands, O’Taste and See, Lighthouse Lunches, God’s Cafe and Neighbor's Keeper.
“I know my wife left here in a place that she loved being at, but she took the church with her,” Harry said jokingly. The church is closed indefinitely as it now sits on Fountain Park Avenue with significant damage from the storm and crumbled bricks surrounding it.
Penelton also served on several boards, including as the 2016 president of the National Convocation of the Christian Church and as president of the St. Louis chapter of the Alliance of AT&T Telecommunications Employees.
She sang as a charter member of the St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON Chorus for 27 seasons, acting as a liaison among the church, the community and the orchestra.
“While we mourn her passing, we celebrate her legacy of selflessness and immense generosity to the community,” the symphony stated in a Facebook post. “Our thoughts are with Pat’s husband, IN UNISON Chorus member Harry Penelton, her family, and the many who loved her.”
Penelton leaves behind four children, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
One of her friends, Annette Smith, 61, said she’ll be greatly missed.
“Ms. Pat was an angel; she was one of the sweetest women I know,” Smith said. “She loved the community, she loved people, and she would always encourage us. She [would] be at that church 95% of the time, and she lost her life where she would be.
“I know God was well pleased with her. I can see him saying, ‘You good and faithful servant, come to me.’”
