Personal Life
J.C. Penney was born on a farm outside of Hamilton, Caldwell County, Missouri to James Cash Penney, Sr. and Mary Frances (née Paxton) Penney. He was the seventh of twelve children, only six of whom lived to adulthood. Penney's father was a Baptist preacher and farmer whose strict discipline included making his son pay for his own clothing once he reached his late pre-teens. His intentions after graduation from Hamilton High School were to attend college with the hopes of becoming a lawyer. However, his father's untimely death forced a change in plans, with Penney taking a job as a store clerk to help support the family. Penney's health problems caused him to venture west to Longmont, Colorado, in his early twenties, where he found employment with the previously mentioned Golden Rule stores.
James Cash Penney married three times in his life. First wife Bertha Alva Hess died of pneumonia, second wife Mary Hortense Kimball also died of unspecified medical issues in 1924. Finally Penney found lasting love with third wife Caroline Marie Autenrieth, to whom he was married forty-five years until his death. By his first wife he had two sons, Roswell Penney and James C. Penney III. By his second wife he had another son, Kimball Penney. And by his third wife, he had two daughters, Mary Frances Penney and Carol Penney.
On December 26, 1970, Penney fell and fractured his hip. Just a few weeks later, he suffered a heart attack and never fully recovered. He died February 12, 1971. The Reverend Dr. Norman Vincent Peale delivered the eulogy at Penneys' funeral. Penney was buried in the Bronx section of New York City. His grave, at the Woodlawn Cemetery, is not far from that of fellow retail entrepreneur, F.W. Woolworth.
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