Obituary for Dr. D. Glenn Pennington

D. Glenn Pennington, M.D., age 81, passed away at home on October 18, 2022. A brilliant surgeon with a quick wit and kind heart, Dr. Pennington was the son of the late Dr. Edward and Emma Lee Pennington of Ackerman, MS. He was the older brother, by seven minutes, of fraternal twin sister Lynne Pennington Howie. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Dorothy “Dottie” Pennington, daughter Jennifer Lynne Pennington (Will Richardson), son Andrew Glenn Pennington, granddaughter Isabel Kim Pennington, sister Lynne Howie (John Sharp). He was preceded in death by his brother, Dr. Earl Pennington (Patti) and his parents.
Glenn graduated from the University of Mississippi where he was chosen for scholastic honor societies as a freshman (Phi Eta Sigma) and as a senior (Omicron Delta Kappa). Always a leader, he was elected president of his senior class, president of his fraternity, Sigma Chi, and was the Southern Province nominee for the national Balfour Award. After graduating from the University of Mississippi Medical School, he completed his residency with Tulane Medical School at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. While there, he completed an internship in surgery, a residency in general and thoracic surgery and served as chief resident in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery. He completed fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital (affiliated with Harvard University) and Mayo Clinic, Mayo Medical School.
Glenn served in the United States Air Force with the 81st Medical Group, Keesler AFB where he was director of the Clinical Research Laboratory. During his tenure, he was honored to serve as the Rescue Thoracic Surgeon for the Apollo Soyuz space shuttle launch.
Glenn spent his career in academic medicine where he was a clinician, a researcher and an educator. He specialized in heart transplants in adults and children. His research and clinical uses of mechanical devices as a bridge to transplantation were life saving for many patients. He worked at St. Louis University School of Medicine where he was a Professor of Surgery. He then served as Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston Salem, North Carolina. He finished his career as a Surgical Professor at Quillen School of Medicine at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.
He was a prolific writer and his publications are well known in academic settings. He was invited to speak at medical conferences all over the world.
Glenn was dedicated to his family, his faith and his community. Always the consummate gentleman, Glenn was the first to help anyone in need. He enjoyed fishing, watching Old Miss football and working on his golf game.
The memorial service will be held at Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church, 201 E. Market Street, Johnson City, TN, on Monday, October 24, at 1:30pm. A reception will be held at the church following the service. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Lewy Body Foundation, www.LBDA.org, or to Munsey United Methodist Church Melting Pot Fund, www.munsey.org.