Rhoda Claudine Lovewell, 87, rural Lovewell, Jewell County, Kansas, daughter of Alta Pearl Kershner Mann Lovewell and Stephen Rhodes Lovewell passed away peacefully on March 11, 2025. She was the youngest grandchild of Pioneers of Republic/Jewell Counties, Thomas Lovewell (1826-1920) and Orel Jane (Davis) Moore Lovewell (1843-1928).

Rhoda was preceded in death by her parents, her half-brothers Everett Mann, Cecil, Thomas, and Leonard Lovewell, her half-sisters Dorothy Mann (Mrs. Shirley) Brown, Orel Lovewell (Mrs. Chet) Poole, Edna Myrle Lovewell, and Dolly Fern Lovewell (Mrs. Floyd) Davidson, her sisters Bernice Marie Lovewell (Mrs. Elwin) Poole, Mary Jane Lovewell (Mrs. Hollis) Hurd, and twins Josephine and Martha Lovewell.

Rhoda was a 1955 graduate of Sinclair Rural High School, Lovewell, KS. She attended Marymount College School of Nursing, Salina, KS, graduated cum laude in September 1958 with a Diploma in Nursing. On September 7, 1957, St. John’s Cathedral, Salina, Kansas, she wed Airman Gerald Penzenstadler, dental assistant, son of Mildred Marie (Moes) Penzenstadler Tadych and Julius Penzenstadler, deceased.

She is survived by her ex-husband, children Jean Marie (Mrs. Jeff) Ebert, Nancy Ann (Mrs. Richard) Murphy, Thomas Stephen Penzenstadler, Susan Diane Whiteman, and Mary Jane (Mrs. Gregory) Hartley, her grandchildren Karen Murphy, Michael (Kristi Lashbrook) Murphy, Melody Ebert (Robert) Arnold, Thomas Edward Penzenstadler, Johnathan Hartley, and Patrisha Hartley, her great-grandchildren Olivia Rue Baty, Milo Baty, Karina Murphy, Lucas Murphy, and Maxwell Arnold, her sister Alta Miriam (Mrs. John) Simons, as well as many nephews and nieces - - great and great-great ones.

A nurse for 42 years in California, Wisconsin, Texas, New Mexico, Alaska, Indiana, Florida, West Virginia, Louisiana, Kansas and Nebraska in hospitals and nursing homes. She was also a Junior Troop Girl Scout leader while living in Alaska and while living in Louisiana, she taught First Aide & Safety in the Louisiana Bayou businesses for the American Red Cross and Reiki at the Living Well.

Rhoda was a past member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in West Virginia and Florida, the Lovewell Junior Library Club, and Art Guilds in Anchorage, Alaska and Houma, Louisiana. She participated in art shows in New Mexico, Alaska, Louisiana, Indiana, Nebraska, and Missouri where she won several awards and sold many of her paintings. Besides painting, she also treasured learning to cook French cuisine.

After retirement in 2000, Rhoda passed her time in her garden and flower beds, gathering genealogy to write The Lovewell Family Revisited (completed in 2014), which was to update The Lovewell Family, by Gloria Lovewell. She also enjoyed traveling to visit the people that enriched her life.

She is a member of Eckankar, the religion of Light & Sound and of Soul Travel.