Penny Pether

We are sorry to learn from Lou Sirico that we have lost Professor Penny Pether to a longstanding battle with cancer.  Penny was a professor at Villanova University School of Law, where she taught Comparative Constitutional Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Procedure, and Law and Literature.  

Penny had been educated in her native Australia and in the United States, receiving a B.A. and LL.B. from the University of Sydney, an MLitt from the University of New England, and a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney.  She had worked as a solicitor in Sydney before joining the Ombudsman's Office of New South Wales.  She was an Associate Lecturer in English at the University of Sydney, a Lecturer in Law at the University of Wollongong, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, and an Assistant Professor and Director of the Lawyering Skills Program at Southern Illinois University.  She also taught at American University before joining the faculty of Villanova University School of Law.

Penny served on a number of academic boards, including the Board of Governors of the Law and Humanities Institute, the Law and Literature Association of Australia, and the Association of American Law Schools Committee on Lawyer Performance and Admission to the Bar.

She was, above all, a delightful person whose smile and presence could lighten any room.  She was a skilled and valued teacher and colleague to many.  Lou Sirico, in an announcement to the Legal Writing Listserve and a post on the Legal Skills Blog, wrote of his colleague that she was determined to regain her health and that she had looked forward to teaching this semester and to taking on several speaking engagements.  He said:  "Those of us who knew Penny knew how passionate she was about her scholarship, her teaching, and most of all, her students."

Penny is survived by her husband, Dave Caudill, who is also a Professor at Villanova.  Lou Sirico advises us that a memorial reception will be held on Friday evening, September 13, 2013, from 7-9 p.m., at St. Asaph’s Episcopal Church, 27 Conshohocken State Road, Bala Cynwyd.  Funeral services will be held at St. Asaph’s at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 14, with burial to follow in St. Asaph’s cemetery.

Rest in peace, Penny.  You are missed.

(mew)