From Zeroasterisk

Catherine Anne Pennington (12-1-44 - ) is the middle daughter of Jack J. Pennington and Margaret Ruth Todd. She has been married to Sam Hilal since 01-22-2000.

Child:

• Alan James Blount, (1-17-79), only son of Catherine Pennington and James Michael Blount. Seeing the world through Alan's eyes has been a great source of inspiration and joy for Cathy. She believes that he has the capacity to make a great difference in this world, by his example.

Cathy retired from teaching Art, after 32 years, in 2002. She taught 6 years in elementary, 3 years in high school and a total of 22 years in middle school. After graduating with a BS from LSU in Baton Rouge, she taught 1/2 year at the University Lab School, grades 1-12, before opening Sherwood Jr. The first 10 years at Sherwood Jr., in Baton Rouge, LA, were the best! Art and teaching had no boundaries! After 6 years at Sherwood, she took a year off to attend the Univ. of Georgia, and earned a Masters in Art Ed.in 1975, writing her thesis as a teacher source book about Fiber Crafts for Secondary Schools. After 4 more years at Sherwood, she moved to California and taught Junior College in San Diego for 1 year. She returned to TX when Alan was two. She taught 3 years at Spring Oaks Jr. in Spring Branch, TX, and then 6 years at Alexander Elementary, followed by 3 years at Elsik HS, both in Alief, TX. She transferred to Fort Bend ISD for 3 years at First Colony Middle followed by 6 years at Quail Valley MS, until she retired in 2002. In Fort Bend she also taught journalism and produced a school newspaper.

She and Sam live on their farmette (1 acre) in Rosenberg, Texas (map).

They are both enthusiastic about being outdoors and creating a nurturing environment for their varied interests. Cathy has redeveloped her interest in ceramics and has a studio set up on a covered patio and the NE part of their barn.

Shortly after Cathy retired, she took the Master Gardener class at Fort Bend Extension Agency and developed many new interests, and new friends, revolving around gardening.

She thinks of herself as a putterer--she works at taking time to smell the roses and enjoy life. Retirement suits her.