Penny Bone

Penny Bone

1936-2022

Penny Bone shared her unique spirit with strangers, friends, and loved ones between the years of 1936-2022. She passed away in her sleep, surrounded by loved ones in December at 86 years young. Penny was the second born of five children to her parents Kay and Ray Wiley in Rockville Center, NY. She was a good kid who loved going to the beach, being silly with her friends, and taking pictures and then developing them in her dark room. As an adult, she returned home often to visit her siblings Ray, Kathy, Judy, and Susan, as well as her nine nieces. She savored these visits and the fun they had.

 After moving to California, she met and married Jim Bone. They decided to settle down in the small town of Omak, Wash. where she became a mom to David, Dan, and Cindy. She jumped into motherhood and the community with gusto. Penny found like-minded friends who thought outside of the box and were creative. One favorite group was the performing troupe, "The Medicine Show Players" where she and her friends wrote, directed, and did comedic sketches about their community. Another favorite was the "Village Green Marching Society" a band that performed in many local parades.

 Penny left Omak and moved to Cheney to co-manage a Christmas tree farm with her son. In the winter, she provided local families with a festive environment in which to pick out their favorite tree. During summer, she earned the "Lavender Lady" title by hosting Lavender Festivals where locals came to enjoy the France-inspired lavender field she created, locally made products and art, and live music.

As her children got married, Penny warmly welcomed Valerie, Tod, Maggie, and Jef into the family. As they started having children, she was thrilled to become "Hammah" to her grandchildren: Jessica, Kelton, Abby, Daniella, Jorja, Adam, and Aaron. Penny was the kind of grandmother who was playful and curious. She took every opportunity to sing songs, make arts and crafts, tell tall tales, make mud pies, plant flowers, blow bubbles, and demonstrate wonderfully messy cooking techniques with her grandchildren. She loved them deeply and took every opportunity to spend time with them.

Thankfully, Penny Bone chose to stay true to her authentic self throughout her entire life. She shared this unique spirit with everyone around her, leaving her friends with funny "Penny Stories" to remember and enjoy. We are confident that she would want her life to serve as a reminder to savor the simple things and strive to bring smiles and laughter to those around us. She made the world a better place. Rest in peace and joy, Mom.