Penelope Hadley

On Sunday, March 2, Penelope Brooks Pope Hadley died in Albuquerque, New Mexico, surrounded by family. She was 81.

In recent years, Penelope's focus was on her beloved family: husband Phil, daughters Virginia and Elizabeth; son-in-law Freddy, and her grandson Bjorn. She loved the acequias and birds in the North Valley where she lived and was always up for taking a trip to Santa Fe whenever someone was in town. During her life, though, she was known to be more adventurous.

As a young girl growing up on a 350-acre-farm in her native Virginia, she rode with the Middleburg Hunt. Her love of horses and riding fast stayed with her, and she was actively involved in the Juan Tomas Hounds and the local Pony Club in Albuquerque. In college, she spent her junior year abroad, studying at the Sorbonne University in Paris and traveling all over Europe and Morocco. A love of travel was something she and Phil shared, and together they sailed through the Panama Canal, visited towns and villages in Mexico and Latin America, and much of Israel and the Middle East. They traveled throughout the US and, with their camper, had favorite camping spots all over New Mexico.

Penelope's other great love was animals. Throughout her life, she had many horses, dogs, cats, and a donkey. She was a docent at the Albuquerque Zoo, where she loved talking to people about what they were seeing. She loved the outdoors and walked in it daily. She adored music, especially Paul McCartney, Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, and Stevie Wonder. She was also a voracious reader of contemporary fiction, always recommending books to her daughters, who wish now they had listened better.

She was taken too suddenly from her family, who love and miss her terribly. They are all grateful for the time they had with her. She will live on in their memories.

A memorial meeting and burial will take place at Springfield Friends Meeting, 121 Todds Fork Rd, Wilmington, Ohio on June 14 at 11 am. Fellowship and dinner will follow at the historic farmhouse 1133 Lebanon Rd, Clarksville, Ohio