Dolores 'was an incredible woman'

Dolores Penrod, 88, composed part of her own recent memorial at the Portales Cemetery.

Read by retired professor Bob Taylor, Penrod — June 10, 1929-Dec. 11, 2017 — wrote in the third person:

“Death is as much a part of life as being born. Dolores believed in the fullness of life that God wills for his children…

“She firmly believed that life after death is not the issue, but life before death is what matters — not pie in the sky by and by, but the power of love to redeem human life.

“She saw injustice and suffering and set out to alleviate them because that was where her faith led her.

“She did not believe that she should set out to be self-actualized and happy, safe and comfortable, but to show to the poor and to the broken victims of life that they should be fed and freed from oppression and suffering.”

Taylor said, “Dolores Penrod was an incredible woman … I never once was without the utmost awe-inspiring respect for her and what she accomplished, and what good she did for humanity.

“She was someone we all ought to emulate.

“God has made everything beautiful in its time. He made the life of Dolores beautiful in her time.”

Speaking for New Mexico Democratic Party chair Richard Ellenberg, vice chair Neomi Martinez-Parra, said, “Dolores Penrod felt deeply and passionately about her community and spent much of her intellect, time and energy working to improve it…

“She made progress and she saw progress lost. But that never lessened her drive.

“In her memory we need to recommit ourselves to making the progress she lived for.”

Penrod, preceded in death by her husband and two sons, was a teacher at the Training Center for Exceptional Children in Portales from 1960 to 1965, co-founder and director of the Community Services Center from 1965 to 1999, and was instrumental in establishing a food bank, clothing bank, a medical clinic for the under-served, suicide hotline, literacy council, adult daycare center, library…

Following the memorial, approximately 20 speakers — including her “adopted” children and grandchildren — paid tribute to Penrod with tears and laughter for two hours at the packed Yam Theatre.

One of her “adopted” children recounted Penrod’s final days at an assisted living center when she was dissatisfied with the oatmeal and told him, “I’m not going to die until they get this oatmeal right.”

A woman recounted her daughter losing her significant other suddenly in front of the young mother and her son. Penrod gave the woman money for her daughter because, “She’s going to need it.”

After nervously admitting to Penrod she wasn’t a Democrat, another speaker said, “Dolores welcomed me with open arms … and told my daughter to always be kind, be strong and be smart.”

A young woman said, “When Dolores said ‘I love you,’ I felt like the luckiest person in the world.”

An “adopted” grandson recalled, “I didn’t know about all her accomplishments; I just knew her as ‘Grandma.’ She told me, ‘We’re not related, we’re just family.’”

After the 2016 election, a woman recounted her calmly announcing, “We have a lot of work to do.”

A college student, majoring in political science, said he remembered Penrod musing, “If God wasn’t a Democrat, he sure is now.”

Contact Wendel Sloan at: [email protected]