Pennington Honored With Paver at ATA's Capitol Hill Office
Pennington, who died in December 2014, spent about 25 years in corporate communications and 15 years as a business magazine journalist, editor and photographer, primarily in trucking.
The event was sponsored by ATA and ACT 1, the Allied Committee for the Trucking Industry.
“I’m sure I speak for all of you when I say he was an absolutely wonderful man — so passionate and dedicated to our industry,” ATA President Bill Graves said. “He was such a tremendous supporter, not only of ATA but so many of the industry’s organizations.”
John Conklin, president of ACT 1, praised Pennington for being “a great ambassador to trucking.”
He then added: “Probably more importantly, he was a terrific friend.”
Conklin drew laughs as he explained how special he felt when Pennington would send him a note congratulating him on an accomplishment. However, Conklin later found out that was something Pennington did quite often.
“When I found out he was doing it frequently, it made it even more special,” he said.
Conklin said besides remembering Pennington’s laughter and encouraging ways, he hoped the paver would leave people with an additional message.
“I would encourage other people to follow in his footsteps — to get involved to make a difference not only for the industry . . . but for the lives of the people they touch along the way,” Conklin said.
Pennington’s wife, Patsy, attended the ceremony and received a miniature paver as a keepsake.
She said, “Mike knew he was a lucky guy, and he loved working in the trucking industry.”
She called the paver “a beautiful honor” and said Pennington was looking down on the ceremony and saying, “Wow.”
Several executives of Meritor Inc. also spoke at the event. Pennington spent a large portion of his career with the company, retiring as senior director of marketing communications in 2010.
Today we honor a great friend of #trucking, Mike Pennington, with a paver at our Capitol Hill office. pic.twitter.com/CXMRCHkW29
— American Trucking (@TRUCKINGdotORG) September 3, 2015
