Virginia Pennington “Penny” Groleau, a Kenosha area resident, died the 28th of June in hospice care at Aurora Health Care in Kenosha.

Born on the family farm in Elton WI on September 28th, 1928, she was the fifth of seven children of the late Katherine and Eli Pennington and the first in her family to complete high school. Her mother paid the milkman with eggs to give Penny a ride to Union Free High School in White Lake because there was no school bus. Following high school she moved to northeast Illinois where she worked for Abbott Laboratories and met the love of her life, Gerald “Jerry” Groleau. They married on October 28, 1950 and spent their first year together in the Aleutian Islands after Jerry was called back to the Navy for the Korean War.

After their Alaskan adventure, they returned to Lake County, Illinois to raise a family and become entrepreneurs. After pursuing ventures from taxis to religious goods retail, they created the Groleau Agency in Winthrop Harbor that served the community for many years with insurance and vehicle registration services.

After retirement, she and Jerry spent several years in Manatee County, Florida before moving back to the Midwest and settling in western Kenosha County. Penny filled her time with studying and teaching about the Bible, genealogy, and family history. She started several Bible studies for senior citizen groups. She was an active member of Westosha Lakes Church in Paddock Lake, WI.

She is survived by her children: David (Brenda) Groleau, Mary Jane (Mark) James, Mark Groleau, and Tom (Sally) Groleau; grandchildren: James Groleau, Phillip (Kim) Groleau, Amy (Doug) Warren, Dustin (Julie) James, Kelly (Robert) Piccolo, Joseph Groleau, and Jonathan Groleau; nine great grandchildren; her sister, Joan (Earl) Roe, and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and five siblings: Anthony, Harvey, Alice, Eugene, and Patricia.

Service Info

A Memorial Service honoring Penny’s life will be held on Monday, July 1, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. at the Piasecki Funeral Home.  A gathering will be held for Penny at the funeral home on Monday, July 1^st from 4:00 p.m. until the time of the service.