Forrest Malachi Penn was born as Mary Lucille Bell July 19, 1946, in Los Angeles, California of parents, Dewey and Betty Jo Bell. He was the oldest of three, with brothers Michael and Daniel (deceased). Forrest died on June 27th, 2024.
From early childhood, Forrest knew himself to be male. Throughout his life there was little understanding or support for this. It wasn’t until he reached his early 70’s that he found a small portion of his world welcoming him as he was. Outward changes such as growing a beard helped make his self-concept fit better.
In his 20’s he was diagnosed with multiple chronic auto-immune diseases, including Lupus and Myasthenia Gravis. These diseases and their treatments affected his lungs and heart causing him to need supplemental oxygen. All of this made him a high anesthesia risk so surgery on later knee and leg injuries wasn’t an option.
His participation in the drug trials and later use of the approved drug Benlysta, a human monoclonal antibody for the treatment of lupus in adults, improved both the length and quality of his life.
His many health complications made getting coordinated healthcare very difficult. He was often frustrated trying to make each specialist understand the bigger picture. Still, he survived long past his doctor’s, and his own, expectations. In fact, he was amazed that he lived into his 70’s.
Forrest pursued his strong interest in criminal justice, art therapy and early childhood education through several academic degrees. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Art and a Master's degree in Correctional Counseling at Chapman University, and a Master's degree in Art Education at California State University, Sacramento. While at Chapman he also participated in a semester at sea (World Campus Afloat), sailing from Los Angeles to New York City with stops in South America, Africa and Europe. This seafaring education program operated for 10 years aboard the ships The MS Seven Seas and The SS Ryndam.
In Forrest’s early days he was able to work at a wide variety of jobs. As his health worsened, he was unable to hold full time employment. This eventually sent him into subsistence living on government programs.
Even with limited energy and funds, Forrest was still able to volunteer. He conducted an Adventures in Art program for youth at a local Sheriff’s Station for 5½ years, including mask making workshops for early teens. With a partner he rebuilt bicycles to give to kids. He helped at Senior Gleaners and the Food Bank, and was always finding items to give to Loaves & Fishes, our local non-profit homeless service.
Forrest’s family was spread across the country. Despite the distance, he was always engaged with his nieces and nephews by sending cards and letters, gifts, and visiting by phone or video. He had a strong interest in his family history and did extensive genealogical research resulting in a multi-volume report for the family. Forrest discovered that he was distantly related to the Quaker, William Penn, which inspired his chosen name.
Forrest was an artist at heart. Like his mother, he loved to build miniatures, including dioramas (little worlds in a box) and tiny real books. He worked in many media including concrete, with an example being a realistic basketball in the back yard of our meetinghouse.
He always loved animals. During high school he raised a sheep in the 4H club. He had Buffy and later GB (Good Boy)--both small Pomeranians--and was still caring for a colony of feral cats at the end.
He came to Sacramento Friends Meeting (Quakers) in August 1982, and immediately joined our new Prisoner Package program. He was deeply involved with it for over 35 years. Over those years he wrote thousands of postcards to the inmates. He had very strong feelings about the loneliness of inmates and knew that even a card saying we couldn’t give them a package was still a human contact.
When COVID swept over us we began using Zoom video conferencing software to worship together. Forrest found this very useful since it saved him the cost of driving 30 miles round trip to Meeting. He especially enjoyed the “Breakout Rooms” after worship when a few people would visit and get to know each other better.
He became a valued member of our Fellowship & Hospitality Committee, with lots of useful ideas for celebrating being together. Thanksgiving at the meetinghouse was one of his favorite events.