- Howdy! Howdy! Howdy!
My name is Penne Dianne Conrad but my Knight in Shining Armor just calls me J.C. (as in J.C. Penney (get it?). Boy, do I have a story to tell you! You see, I headed out to the other side of the veil on January 7, 2010 from the American Fork Hospital. Boy, those guys were great there! But my body just never could keep up with the strength of my spirit. It was time for me to leave. I needed to go pave the way for the rest of the family!
Speaking of family, I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on February 4, 1942 to the late Darwin LeGrande and Josie Freebairn. They taught me to love people and to love learning. They loved me dearly and gave me wings to fly. We moved to Glendale, California, where I grew up. My sister, Jackie, and my brothers, Dar and Gary, are amazing.
At an early age I went looking for God and I found him! We've been on good terms ever since. I discovered for myself the truth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was baptized as a child. I went to college at Brigham Young University in Provo and studied journalism. Oh, how I have always loved to read and write!
I married the man of my dreams, Paul Michael Conrad, on August 10, 1963 and we were sealed in the Manti, Utah Temple. He treated me like a queen. That's the secret to a happy life, marry well! We raised our wonderful, kooky family in Manhattan Beach, California: Shoni, Chad, Guy, and Lance. Guy married Janna, Lance married Tanya, Chad married Stacy, and Shoni is still my very best friend.
I have always been active and love to organize things and people. I have been a realtor and owned my own real estate appraisal company. But my real work has always been people.
I have served my whole life in the Church. I have been a teacher, a missionary, a leader, and a follower. But mostly I have been the beneficiary of the love and companionship of so many amazing people. For fourteen years Mike and I served as local missionaries to the Cambodian Ward in Long Beach, California. We grew to love them like no other people in the world. We heard their stories of grief and despair in escaping the clutches of communists and their transformation by the glorious light of the gospel. My last, great project was to write their stories down to preserve them for posterity. Mike and I also served as young single adult advisors for several years and as a missionary couple in the Long Beach City Institute of Religion. Recently we have been volunteers at the Provo Missionary Training Center. We have always loved the youth of the Church. But I have loved everyone I've met everywhere. You see, I've discovered that if you can learn the art of smiling at everyone and serving wherever you find a need, you will uncover love wherever you go. I'm an eternal optimist.
After fighting battles with cancer, seizures, and liver failure I finally ended up in a wheel chair. But that didn't keep me down. Mike and I moved to Utah to be full-time grandparents. Our jewels are Christian, Lydia, Samuel, Jacob, Sierra, Kianna, Faith, Keely, Koby, Reese, Tessa, Megan, Sage, and one more on the way. There's the true wealth of this life!
You'll find my body and my family at the funeral on Monday, January 11, 2010 at the Lehi East Stake Center, 851 North 1200 East in Lehi, Utah. There will be a viewing at the church at 11:00. I'll be late (gotta swing by a few places first). But I'll probably show up because I hate to be left out of anything. But don't weep for me for very long. I'm happy and busy and having new adventures on the other side of the veil. Never a dull moment!
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