Penny Ann Mckee

Penny Ann McKee (“Miss McKee with a K”) passed away on August 27th, 2020. Penny was born in Raleigh, North Carolina on April 14th, 1946 to Alonzo Jackson McKee and Coreen Smith McKee. She grew up in the Raleigh area with her two younger sisters, Brenda McKee Idol and Susan McKee Smeltzer. Miss Penny spent her life helping others. After graduating from Garner High School, Penny spent her early career working for Stone’s Southern School Supplies. She delighted in bringing her nieces to the store, where they had their pick of the Triangle’s best school supplies. Penny finished her working career at Raleigh Housing Authority as an administrative assistant, retiring from RHA in 2014. At RHA, she assisted hundreds of under-served individuals find affordable housing in Raleigh, and made friendships that lasted the rest of her life. Penny was a fashionable young lady, often seen sporting fashionable clothes and wearing 4-inch high heels well into her 60’s. With an artist’s eye, she dabbled in painting and enjoyed interior design. While Penny never worked in the arts, she always tried to incorporate beautiful things into her life. Every Christmas, she would pile the family into a car to drive around Raleigh, admiring the local Christmas decorations and stately homes off of Saint Mary’s Street. This tradition continues to this day. Penny loved her nieces and nephew. She was the aunt that the kids went to for confessions, life questions, and advice. Importantly for them, she didn’t snitch to the parents when the kids pushed the boundaries too far. She was the one that her nephew Chris called when his parents were out of town. While Chris told his parents that he was sick, Penny quickly discovered that a hangover was the true cause of his condition, and let nature run its course. Whereas she never married or had children, Penny raised her two nieces Mary and Ashley as her own, starting from elementary school age. Parenthood came with unique challenges for the fashionable Miss Penny: coming home from work one day, she discovered they had covered the family dog Tigger with a whole bottle of her perfume. Penny loved re-telling this story long after the children grew wings of their own. In her later years, Penny cared for her mother Coreen and sister Susan, who lived nearby. She would drive to countless grocery stores to pick up peaches from the Farmer’s Market, roasted chicken from one store and two deserts from yet another store. Getting just the right ingredient from the right place was just one way she cared for the family. The family relied on Penny’s matriarchy for many years. Penny is survived by her feisty 98 year-old mother, her two younger sisters, her two nieces, her nephew, and numerous cousins. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the SPCA of Wake County or the Guillain Barre Syndrome Foundation. Online condolences may be made to www.bryanleefh.com