Obituary: Joseph Pennewell

Share this post or save for later

2/5/1963 – 12/19/2025
Lawrence

Services for Joseph Pennewell, 62, of Lawrence, KS, will be at 4 p.m. Saturday December 27, 2025, at North Lawrence Christian Church.

He was born February 5, 1963, in Kansas City, KS, the son of William ‘Bill’ Pennewell and Barb Pennewell.

Storm Chaser Joe was a reliable ‘eye in the sky’, alerting family and friends to changes in the weather. He enjoyed discussing being ”Weather ready; Weather Safe”. He was a storm spotter and was actively involved with several NOAA programs.

He married Louise Wedge on Feb. 21, 1981 in Lawrence,KS. They divorced June 25th, 1986, remarried in 1987 in Las Vegas, and divorced again on Sept. 9th, 1998. He married and divorced Vicki Street. He married Dianna Fourke (Ikenberry) on July 2017. All three survive in their homes.

Mr. Pennewell died after a brief illness, Friday December 19, 2025, at KU Medical Center, with his son Joseph by his side.

Other survivors include three brothers, Bill, Jim and Ed; a son, Joe Henderson and a daughter, Lucy; as well as 2 grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his Parents, a Brother, Vernon a Sister, Barb and twins that passed in birth.

Memorial Services will be held on Saturday December 27, 2025 at 4 p.m. at North Lawrence Christian Church 647 Elm St Lawrence, Kansas. A meal will be hosted by the church immediately following the service.

The family suggests memorial contributions, to go towards his services, be given directly to Rumsey-Yost Funeral; or to the Mount Washington Observatory (teaching middle schoolers to use real weather to gather scientific data.)

Note: The Lawrence Times is offering Lawrence and Douglas County community members space to publish remembrances of loved ones who lived in this community, free of charge. These pieces are submitted by family and friends of the deceased and not written by our staff. Photos are also provided to the publication, and some may have been altered prior to submission. Read more obituaries here.

We are honored to be able to offer this service free to community members in mourning. We believe the last thing our neighbors need in those difficult moments is another financial matter to worry about. Please support the Times to help us continue providing this service — and news access — for all.

To submit an obituary to The Lawrence Times, please fill out the form at this link. We’re sorry, but we cannot accept obituary submissions via email or other means.

Receive obituaries via email

As of May 2026, we are launching a newsletter that will include obituaries only. Obituaries will no longer appear in our daily emails. You can sign up below to receive any and all of our emails. If you already receive our daily, weekly and/or occasional emails and you want to keep receiving them, please check those boxes as well.

Please make sure you click on the button that says “Yes, subscribe me to this list” in the email you receive or you will not receive future emails. That extra step is to protect you and make sure you’re not getting emails you don’t want.

Subscribe

* indicates required
What kind of emails do you want to receive?
Please check ALL emails you want to receive.
Previous Article

KU announces dates of provost finalist candidates’ public presentations

Next Article

Some personal property will stop being taxable in Kansas in the new year