Raymond Pennell

In Memory of

Raymond Pennell

Ray Pennell, 69, oldest of Jim and Jessie Pennell, passed on from this life on Thursday morning after a brief fight with gallbladder cancer. Ray was born in Gravesend, England and spent his early childhood underneath the skies' of the "Battle of Britain", where it was not uncommon for the Germans to drop unspent bombs on his home town. As he grew up, he left school at the grand age of 15 years to enter a 5 year apprenticeship at Robert L. Priestley Limited to become a boiler-maker. He spent these years learning how to build and rebuild steam boilers for the British Railway and power stations along with other types of pressure vessels and heat exchangers.

After leaving Priestley's, he worked for a cement manufacturing company. He then decided that deep-sea diving was more like underwater construction and within his realm of capability.

After some basic training for scuba diving in the local lake, he went off to join up with J. Ray McDermott as a deep-sea diver and shipped off to Africa. This was much to the horror of his mother. In his travels around the world he saw and lived many things and had a load of adventurers. Some which included the 7 day Arab-Israeli war; and stay in Colonel Kadafi's hospitality under gun point while the ransom was arranged.

As time progressed he moved from diving into sales, specializing in hyperbolic welding. Over time he has been the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for many different companies within the oil-field industry.

Over the years Ray has had many different hobbies and interests. One love was for model airplanes and model locomotives. Others include, offshore fishing in a variety of boats and flying his own plane. On more than one occasion he turned these interests into small business opportunities. Some of the more memorable ones were the air conditioning installation company that stemmed from a frustration with his own system, a fishing charter company for his 37 foot twin engine Trojan boat, and a small lease-back company for his Cessna 172 that blossomed into a flight school with 10+ planes. The final and most well known, was a small company to do what he loved, building scale steam engines. Ray loved to watch his granddaughter Emma ride her horse, although he did not always appreciate the hard wooden benches which he sat.

Ray is survived by his wife Valerie, his sister Margaret Reeves, his son Neil Pennell and his two grandchildren, Emma Mae and Paige Margaret Pennell. He has also left many beloved friends and wonderful business acquaintances.

Memorial Service

Mon. Oct. 1, 2007

2:30 pm

The Foundry United Methodist Church

8350 Jones Road
Houston , TX 77065.

Get Directions

Website Link

In Memory of

Raymond Pennell

Apr 17, 1938

Sep 27, 2007

After leaving Priestley's, he worked for a cement manufacturing company. He then decided that deep-sea diving was more like underwater construction and within his realm of capability. After some basic training for scuba diving in the local lake, he went off to join up with J. Ray McDermott as a deep-sea diver and shipped off to Africa. This was much to the horror of his mother. In his travels around the world he saw and lived many things and had a load of adventurers. Some which included the 7 day Arab-Israeli war; and stay in Colonel Kadafi's hospitality under gun point while the ransom was arranged.

Tributes

Message from

John & Helen

Mon, 10/01/2007

Dear Valerie,
We were very sad to hear of Ray's passing and send you our sincerest condolences at this time. We have great memories of Ray's larger-than-life love of life and his warm heart. He was always willing to find a way to help others and had a really positive outlook that was a real encouragement to so many. Although it is a while now since we left Houston in 2001 we remember those days well.
With kind regards,
John & Helen Stansfeld

Message from

Binder and Sheena

Mon, 10/01/2007

Val
We were so saddened to hear of Rays passing.Big Ray was a great character, who impacted many lives, perhaps far more than most realized. As you know we came to and and stayed in Texas thanks largely to him.
The smile on his face when he talked railways was always so warming. Most recently we remember his humor and kindness when our relative Robert also a keen train buff came to visit. That was a typical Ray memory.
Best regards Binder and Sheena

Message from

Sarah & Donal

Mon, 10/01/2007

Dear Val & Neil,
We were shocked and saddened to hear the news about Ray. Having known Ray for many years we know he will be greaty missed. (Especially his chili crab - a recipe that has travelled with us throughout the world.) Our love & thoughts are with you.
Love & Regards,
Sarah & Donal

Message from

Tony and Janet Latchford

Mon, 10/01/2007

Dear Valerie,
We were very saddened to hear of the untimely death of Ray who we were pleased to call our friend for over 30 years.We always recall Singapore and Ray taking us out on our first dives, the fish tank we inherited when he returned to UK and the fantastic stories he told us of salvage and his adventures.
He will be sadly missed by us all and our thoughts and prayers are with you and Neil at this sad time.
Love Tony & Janet Latchford.

Message from

Les & Lesley Douthwaite

Tue, 10/02/2007

Dear Val,
We were very sorry to hear of Ray's passing.
Ray was a larger than life person who always looked on the brightside of life - even when you were flooded out some years ago and we had to move your furniture and dry out your home. Rays skills and knowledge of model railroads are well known and he will be sorely missed by his hobbyist friends.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this very sad time.
With very best regards,
Les & Lesley Douthwaite

Message from

Albert Deen

Wed, 10/10/2007

Dear Valerie,

We only recently heard of Ray's untimely passing away at only 69 years of age. Herewith we send you our sincerest condolences; beter late than never. Frankly we thought he was a great guy, who will be sadly missed by all.

Wishing you strength for the future.

With kind regards,

Albert & Theresa
Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Message from

Hugh Cockett

Wed, 10/24/2007

Dear Valerie, Neil and Margaret
I was sad to hear of Rays passing and send you all my sincere condolences.
He was such a huge character, both in size and personality, larger than life in all respects. I still treasure many memories of us all from the Intertruck and Merriworth days so many years ago in UK.
My thoughts and best wishes to all the family at this sad time.
Love Best Regards
Hugh

Message from

Paul Ashton.

Sat, 02/07/2009

Ray and I worked together in Saudi, diving and I well remember having to decompress him after a case of the bends.He was great company, aways bouyant and gave us younger divers confidence. He kindly put me in touch with Hydrotech in Houston who I worked for based in Montrose Scotland. Fond memories and I'll alway's be grateful for the part Ray played in my life back then. Sorry for the belated tribute I only just found out about Ray's passing while reminising thought I'd Google his name. How much of an impact must he have had on me if I can still remember him fondly from 1976.