Notice: Dwain W. Penn is very much alive - for now!

Obituary

           Dwain Penn was born June 1955 in Upson County, the youngest child of George and Grace C. Penn.  After graduating in 1973 from R.E. Lee in Thomaston, he earned a 1978 bachelor’s degree in architecture from Southern Tech in Marietta.  Penn worked over a decade for the Macon city traffic engineering department before leaving to enter the full-time ministry.

          For over twenty years [as of 2009], Penn traveled throughout the Southeast and Midwest as a successful dramatist, creating and performing sixteen portrayals from prominent Biblical figures to historic and fictional characters.  As part of the local clergy, Penn was a member of the Pike County Ministerial Association and the Upson County Ministerial Association, filling official positions in both.

          In 1998, Penn was called to serve as preacher for New Hebron Baptist Church in Pike County, filling that monthly pulpit until his death.  That same year, he started the Penn Publishing Press as a means to publish his own books (over 20) and about a dozen books for other local writers.  He was instrumental in restoring the cemetery records for Shiloh Baptist Church and preserving records for Williamson UMC cemetery in Pike County and Mt. Zion UMC in Spalding County.

          Penn chartered the Thomaston-Upson County Classical Music and Opera Club in 2000 and served as president over five years.  As a devout Christian, he helped charter Jesus First Church in 1985 (now Lighthouse Church) and Grace Hill Baptist in Pike County.

          He is survived by a brother, Dave (Barbara) Penn of Lilburn, Georgia, a sister, Donna Barnes of Macon, a niece and four nephews.