On April 18, 1951, in Greensboro, NC, Eugene and Norma Pennix joyfully welcomed into the world their first born son, Tony Leonardo Pennix.

Tony was the oldest of three children. he and his brother Kenneth were close in age and spent much of their childhood together learning and playing side by side. Tony would sometimes gently tug onto the earlobe of his brother. They were a comfort to each other.

Tony was resourceful and creative. During his teen years, he rummaged lawn mower parts, bicycle pedals, scrap wood, and other odd materials and designed and built a full size boxcar that he and the other neighborhood kids would race up and down the street. He named the car "Snake Eye Five." "Snake" was his nickname, which he received because he was so slim. He found amusement in soaring radio control airplanes and swinging a bat on the baseball field. He loved animals and could tame a wild dog.

Tony attended James B. Dudley High School and there esteemed being part of the marching band. Music was a big part of his life and he and some of his friends formed a band. His instrument was the saxophone. Tony had a brilliant mind and was exceptionally gifted in mathematics and science. He was also a gifted sketch artist. Tony was one of few blacks accepted into the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 1968. This accomplishment made his father so very proud.

Tony was the father of two sons, Markevian Pennix and Anthony Poole, young men that are exceptional fathers making any parent proud.

Tony could be characterized as a free spirit; doing life his way. Never meeting a stranger, he was thought of as kind-hearted, and would give you the shirt off his bank. His friends describe him as a loyal friend sticking by you through thick and thin.

Tony lived the later years of his life in Atlanta, GA and was a union member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 834. He worked as a stagehand at various venues and was skilled in multiple disciplines, from setup, operating systems during shows, to the repair and maintenance of the equipment.

Tony renewed his baptismal commitment in Christ in 2013 thereby receiving the blessed assurance only God's mercy can impart.

On June 24, 2015, our Heavenly father called Tony home. His mother, Norma Chavis Pennix; his brother, Kenneth Eugene Pennix; and his nephew, Leroy T. Gill, III precede him in death.

He will be mourned by his father, Eugene Pennix; sister, Teresa Pennix Gill (Leroy); sons, Markevian Pennix and Anthony Poole; five grandchildren, Markevian Pennix, Jr., Quadayr Hinton, Jerni Poole, Questyn Hinton, and Quaidyn Poole; along with other dear relatives and friends.

A homegoing celebration will be held on Tuesday, July 7, 2015 at the Goldie Hargett Memorial Chapel, 905 East Market Street, Greensboro, NC at 12:30 pm. Interment will follow at First Baptist Church Cemetery in Gibsonville.