MARY LYNN PANNILL Tx Obit
MARY LYNN PANNILL died Friday, May 10, 2002, of complications from Hodgkin's Disease. She was 53 years old. Miss Pannill was the only daughter of Fitzhugh Hastings and Mary Goodrum Pannill. She was the granddaughter of Judge William Pannill and Mattie Cherry Pannill and of Charles Goodrum and Mrs. Lutie Long. She was named for her mother and her great-aunt Lynn Porter, who survived the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. She was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 17, 1948, and grew up in Midland, Texas. She attended the public schools in Midland, graduating from Midland High School in 1966. She then attended Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Austin, before receiving both a bachelor's and a master's degree in management from the University of Phoenix in 1996 and 2000, respectively. Miss Pannill originally pursued a career in retailing, first with the Lord and Taylor stores and then with Joske's of Texas, Inc., where she rose to become divisional merchandise manager and divisional sales manager. After the sale of Joske's in 1987, she became general manager of Dillard's Department Store in Westwood Mall. She resigned from Dillard's in 1988 and became a legal assistant with the law firm of Pannill, Moser & Barnes from 1988 to 1991. From 1991 to 1994, she worked as a representative of The Principal Financial Group. In April 1994, she became executive director of the People With AIDS Coalition. The Coalition flourished under her leadership, increasing its staff from five to 30 and expanding from one location to four. In 1998, she resigned from PWA Coalition to found Non-profit Consulting Services, L.L.C., which provides technical assistance, grant-writing, training, and an evaluation service to non-profit entities, government agencies, and corporations. Miss Pannill served from 1988 to 1996 on the executive committee of the Harris County Republican Party as chair of Precinct 38. She was also precinct judge of Precinct 38. She had been a member of the Cherryhurst Civic Club since 1984 and led the successful drive of the Cherryhurst Civic Club to reinstate deed restrictions. She served as president in 1989, and remained active in the club until her death. She was for many years a member of Christ Church Cathedral. She was a member of the AIDS Caregiver Team at Christ Church Cathedral and also a member of the Diocesan AIDS Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. In 1996, she became a member of Trinity Episcopal Church. She was chair of the Stewardship Committee for Trinity Church beginning in 1998, a member of the vestry beginning in 1999, and Co-Chair of the Millennium Capital Campaign beginning in 2000. Under her leadership, the Millennium Capital Campaign has raised more than $3 million for the restoration and renovation of Trinity Church, which is one of Houston's most beautiful structures. She was a member of the Coalition for the Homeless, the Care Consortium of the Texas Department of Health (on whose executive committee she served), the Ryan White Planning Council, a member and presenter for the National Minority AIDS Commission, and a member of the Advisory Board for Project LEAP (an AIDS program). She was also a member of the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives and The Houston Club. Miss Pannill was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution by direct descent from both Kerenhappuch Norman Turner, who tended the American wounded at the Battle of Guilford Court House, and William Pannill, a member of the Committee of Public Safety in Orange County, Virginia, from 1774 to 1781 under the chairmanship of James Madison. Lynn Pannill's funeral will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 16, 2002, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1015 Holman at Main Street, with the Rev. William B. Miller, rector, and the Rev. Linda Wilson, associate rector, officiating. Pallbearers will include Henry Merino, Jr., Richard L. Collier, Jack Smith, Robert Brown, William Buckingham, Joseph S. Pueschner, Leroy Schapansky, and Andrew Wiley. Burial will take place in the Columbarium at Trinity Church. Her family thanks Michael C. Miller, her colleague at Non-Profit Consulting Services, for his years of support. The family also thanks the devoted care-givers Bonny Prophet, Mary Elizabeth Walker, and Beulah Dones In lieu of flowers, please make any gifts to the Millennium Capital Campaign of Trinity Episcopal Church in memory of Mary Lynn Pannill.
Published in the Houston Chronicle on 5/14/2002