Penelope Whitley Ward Kyle

Penelope Whitley Ward Kyle, known to family and friends as “Penny,” died of natural causes in Hillsville, Virginia, on June 28, 2026. She was 106 years old.

Penny was born on September 26, 1919 in Hampton, Virginia to Dr. Oscar Wilde Ward, Sr. and Penelope Lee Whitley Ward. Raised in Phoebus (now Hampton), at her family’s home, “Cloverly,” Penny was the sister of Dr. Oscar Wilde Ward Jr. of Hampton. She was also the second of four generations of Penelopes, alongside her mother (Penelope Lee Whitley Ward), her daughter (Penelope Ward Kyle) and her granddaughter (Penelope Whitley Menges Bohan).

Penny graduated from Hannah More Academy in Reisterstown, Maryland, Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, Virginia, and Mary Washington College (now the University of Mary Washington), in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1943.

In 1946, Penny married Lanny Astor (“L.A.”) Kyle of Galax, Virginia. They first lived in Nampa, Idaho, where L.A. worked for Carnation Industries and Penny taught elementary school. After the birth of their first child, also named Penelope Ward Kyle, they returned to Virginia and settled in Galax.

Although Penny did not know anyone in Galax when she arrived, she quickly made lifelong friends and became a well-known and beloved member of the community. Over the decades that followed, she became woven into the fabric of Galax life. Later, when considering where to spend her final years, she chose to remain in the area because she could not imagine leaving her friends and the larger Galax community.

In Galax, Penny was a devoted mother, a substitute teacher in the Galax Public School System, a longtime attendee of Galax First Methodist Church and a vivacious hostess who delighted in both hosting and attending social events. She brought warmth, energy and fun to the people around her.

Like her mother, Penny was an avid gardener. She was a member of the Galax Garden Club for many years and passed along beloved heirloom lines to her family, some of which originated in her mother’s garden in Hampton. Thus, her gardens have become a living connection between generations.

Penny was an enthusiastic traveler. As a young woman, Penny attended the 1939 World’s Fair in New York and drove down the California coast with a girlfriend, an especially bold adventure for two young ladies at the time. She ensured that her children shared her love of travel, planning memorable family trips to the 1964 World’s Fair (also in New York), Panama and Europe, and a road trip from Virginia to Texas for her daughter Penny’s college visits.

Although she lived in and cherished Galax, Penny maintained strong ties to her Ward family in Hampton. Each summer, she and her family traveled to Buckroe Beach to spend at least a month with family and friends.

In later years, Penny enjoyed playing bridge and continued making new friends and finding new partners as her original bridge companions passed away. She was also fond of animals, especially dogs. Her favorites included Poozie, Cinnamon and Rocky.

Penny adored her grandchildren, Kyle, Whitley and Patricia Lee, and regularly traveled from Galax to Richmond for birthdays, holidays and grandparents’ days at their schools. In recent years, Penny enjoyed spending time with her great-grandchildren Jasper, Lewis and Rory.

Penny was a proper Southern lady in all respects: warm, beautiful and refined, with uncompromising morals. She lived a long and full life marked by family, friendship, community, hospitality, travel and devotion to the people and places that shaped her.

Penny was preceded in death by her parents, Dr. Oscar Wilde Ward, Sr. and Penelope Lee Whitley Ward; her husband of 43 years, Lanny Astor Kyle, Sr.; her brother, Dr. Oscar Wilde Ward, Jr.; her daughter, Patricia Armistead Kyle; and her nephew, Fairfield Armistead Ward.

She is survived by her children, Penelope Ward Kyle (Charlie) and Lanny Astor Kyle, Jr.; her grandchildren, Kyle Ward Menges (Sofia), Penelope Whitley Menges Bohan (Mike) and Patricia Lee Menges (Jon); her great-grandchildren Jasper Elliott Bohan, Lewis Allan Slomka and Roderick Oscar Slomka; and her niece and nephew, Catherine Eleanor Ward and Oscar Wilde Ward III.

Visitation and a service celebrating Penny’s life will be held on Thursday, July 2 at 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm, respectively, at First United Methodist Church in Galax. The burial at the Woodlawn Church Cemetery will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to the O.W. Ward, Sr. Scholarship at VCU Health (formerly the Medical College of Virginia) or the L.A. Kyle Scholarship at Galax High School.