Today, February 11th, our family lost our brave Ovarian Cancer Warrior, Penny Ryals Zickert, to the horrible disease that she battled for three years. Our loss is the Lord’s gain as we know she will be as much an inspiration in heaven as she has been here on earth.

Penny’s strength in the face of cancer was remarkable as she continued to work for George E Warren, Inc., a company she loved, until she was no longer able to continue. She never complained about her situation no matter the physical and mental pain but became the role model to those who knew her and worked with her.

She was the family rock to her children, Stacey (Michael) Albaugh, Russell Newman, Tony (Jennifer) Newman, Felicia (Brian) Bass and stepson Michael (Renee) Zickert. To her grandchildren, Christina, Shelby and Sydney Zickert, Anthony, Ashleigh and Courtney Newman, Emily Albaugh, Seth, Devan and Tracey Bass, Rory and Sophie Newman, she was a role model whose wisdom and advice was always in their best interests. To her husband, Colonel Marty Zickert, she was not only a lover and confidant, but the type of best friend who could be working on a scrapbook in another room yet her presence, though unspoken, was always there. She was a woman of many interests: ceramics, when she made a Christmas village in 1984 that is and will be on display every year; scrapbooking, where she made numerous individualized scrapbooks for special occasions and still has a thousand pictures remaining. Pilates, needlepoint, card making, ballroom dancing and stamping filled her spare time. She loved holidays, especially Christmas as she collected a large Santa every year and transformed the house for Christmas to the delight of her family. The bonds of siblings Shirley (Ralph) Sanford and Tom (Sharon) Ryals are wondrous as it was with her mother Josie Wendell.

Special thanks to Tom Corr for his compassion and concern for Penny over the past 14 years, Emerald Coast Hospice for their care of Penny as well as the many medical staff who cared for Penny through her trial with Ovarian Cancer and St Sylvester’s Catholic Church of Navarre for the caring support to our family.

In Lieu of flowers, Penny requested that a contribution be made to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, PO Box 62885, Baltimore, MD 21264-2885, to further research in the fight against Ovarian Cancer.

A Memorial Service will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 16, 2015, at Lewis Funeral Home, 7794 Navarre Parkway, Navarre, Florida. Visitation for family and friends will be held from 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., prior to the service.

A Memorial Service in Vero Beach, Florida, will be held on a later date in March.