Penelope “Penny” (Shafer) Wright

Ms. Penelope “Penny” (Shafer) Wright, age 83, of Gainesville, Georgia, passed away Tuesday, July 1, 2025.

          Celebration of life service will be held at 2:00 pm Friday, August 1, 2025 at Grace Episcopal Church in Gainesville.

          Penny was born January 19, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in Georgia. She was the daughter of the late Joseph Ferdinand Shafer and Rita Velmar (Schaetzle) Shafer.  She danced with the Atlanta Ballet and rode horses in her youth.  She holds a bachelors degree from Emory (1965), a masters from Northern Illinois University (1981), and a PhD from Northwestern University (1988).  She taught nursing at Loyola University Chicago, University of Southwestern Louisiana and the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she won the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2000.  Penny explored much of the mid-west driving a BMW motorcycle and camping in the woods.  She climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with a group of breast cancer survivors showing the world that a cancer diagnosis is not the end of life's adventures.  She loved the beach, a spy novel and gardening; math was her nemesis.  She was fiercely independent, dignified, and a spectacular mother.

          She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth “Liz” Ward (Bill); son, Walden "Bill" Wright (Elizabeth); granddaughter, Kate Ward and Amie Ward; Ella Wright and Emily Wright; sister, Judy Williams (Reddoch); 3 nieces and 3 great-nephews and 1 great niece.

          In lieu of flowers the family has requested  donations be made to UAB School of Nursing, NB385 1720 2nd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294 orhttps://www.uab.edu/nursing/home/give.  Her family is eternally grateful to her medical team and caregivers.

Memorial Park Riverside Chapel, 989 Riverside Drive, Gainesville, GA 30501. 770-297-6200. For online condolences www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com