Lt. Col. (Ret.) Charles Eugene Pennington, age 89, of Allen, Texas, passed away April 30, 2011, in Plano, Texas. Charles was born October 29, 1921, in Pennington Gap, Virginia, to Otto Lee and Lillie Mae (Garrison) Pennington. He married Dorothy Barefield on June 26, 1945 in Gunter Field, Alabama. Charles was raised in Virginia and New York City and attended City College in New York as well as the University of Maryland and the University of Colorado. Charles proudly served his country in the United States Air Force and retired as a Lt. Col. after twenty-eight years. He served in three wars in addition to The Berlin Airlift and flew a B-17 which included fifty missions over Europe during World War II for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Medal. Charles was also a real estate agent in Colorado Springs, Colorado for ten years. He was a member of First Baptist Church in Richardson, Texas where he was active in the Cliffhanger Sunday School class. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Pennington; sons, Charles Pennington and wife, Katheryn of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Richard Pennington and wife, Nancy of Allen, Texas, David Pennington and wife, Linda of Arlington, Texas, Paul Pennington and wife, Heather of Carrollton, Texas; twelve grandchildren; and eleven great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, May 5 2011, at First Baptist Church of Richardson, Texas with Dr. Ellis Orozco officiating. Interment with United States Air Force honors will follow at 2:00 p.m. at Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery in Dallas, Texas. The family will receive friends during a visitation from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m., Wednesday at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home in Allen, Texas.