SAMUEL CHARLES PENNINGTON III

WALDOBORO – Samuel Charles Pennington III died Feb. 2, 2008, at Miles Memorial Hospital, Damariscotta. Pennington was born Sept. 18, 1929, in Baltimore, to Agnes Johnston Pennington and Samuel Charles Pennington Jr. He was educated at Calvert School, Baltimore; Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H.; and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Pennington joined the Air Force after graduating from college and trained as a navigator-bombardier. His tours of duty included Vietnam, Thailand, Guam, Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Loring Air Force Base; Carswell AFB, Fort Worth, Texas; Barksdale AFB, Shreveport, La.; and Dow AFB. While at Carswell, he met Sally Clayton. They were married April 26, 1958. The couple had five children and 11 grandchildren. While Pennington was stationed in Bangor, in the late 1960s, the couple ran an antique shop part-time. They specialized in early American painted furniture, but grew frustrated when they couldn’t find a reliable source of information about the pieces they were buying and selling. After retirement in 1973, they settled in Waldoboro. For a short while, they published the Waldoboro Weekly. In November 1973, Sam and Sally Pennington launched the Maine Antique Digest from the kitchen of their Waldoboro home, and he served as published until his death. From the earliest days their children took an active part in the publication of M.A.D. The black-and-white newsprint tabloid, which runs about 300 pages, attracted a readership of some 25,000 dealers, auctioneers and collectors. In an article in Johns Hopkins Magazine, Wendell D. Garrett, senior vice president of Americana at Sotheby’s and editor-at-large for The Magazine Antiques, said of Sam, “The brilliance of Sam Pennington is that this was a market that wasn’t being taken care of before M.A.D… What Sam created is like the People magazine of the business.” “There are people who adore him,” Lita Solis-Cohen, senior editor of M.A.D., said of Pennington, in the same article, “There are people who arefurious at him because he’s so honest. And there are people who are afraid of him because of the power of his pen.” Pennington served on the SAD 40 school board for many years, including several years as its’ chairman. As the chairman he guided the board with an even hand although his bias was to provide every student the funding needed to secure a superior education. He supported organizations that raised money to augment SAD 40, programs targeted toward teachers and students. He was a collector of the works of Maine artists and held collections of medals and aviation memorabilia. Pennington was a Waldoboro representative on the board of Lincoln County Television and served as the board chairman for several years until his failing health caused him to step down in January. For several years he co-hosted a weekly interview, news and opinion show on LCTV. He believed in local philanthropy and was an active member of the Democratic Party. In spite of poor health in the last few months, Pennington faithfully went daily to his office at the Maine Antique Digest to oversee its’ operation and work on his ongoing projects, television show and philanthropies. He was fond of saying that old age is not for sissies. Pennington is survived by his wife, Sally Pennington; his children, Katherine Pennington and her husband, Nicholas Azzaretti, of Newcastle, Nellie Pennington and her husband, Nathan Hine, of South Strafford, Vt., Sarah McCleary of Georgetown, Texas, Samuel Pennington and his wife, Shane, of Nobleboro, and Mary Pennington and her husband, David O’Connor, of Durham; and by grandchildren, Calen Pennington of Somerville, Mass., Hannah Pennington of Orono, Allison McCleary of Portland, Chiara and Salvatore Azzaretti of Newcastle, Anne McCleary of Gray, Amos Hine of South Strafford, Vt., Amelia and Olivia Pennington of Nobleboro and Leo and Maysa O’Connor of Durham; by a brother, Christopher Pennington and his wife, Deborah, and their son, Andrew, of Catonsville, Md. He was predeceased by a sister, Agnes Benziger. A memorial service will be held in the spring. Gifts in his memory may be made to Southern Maine Community College, SMCC Foundation, General Scholarship Fund, 2 Fort Road, South Portland, ME 04106, Waldoboro Food Pantry, 97 Friendship Road, Waldoboro, ME 04572 or Waldoboro Public Library, P.O. Box 768, Waldoboro, ME 04572. Arrangements are entrusted to Hall Funeral Home, 949 Main St., Waldoboro.