Helen Deanne Austin was born July 17, 1937, in Sudan, Texas, to B.T. and Mable Austin. After graduating from Sudan High School, she married Windell Dewey Penney on Feb. 22, 1957. They had three children, Pamela Ann, Sharon Gail and Daniel Bryan, whom they taught to love and honor God from the time they were babies throughout their lives.
Deanne and her husband, Wink, provided the happiest home imaginable for their three children and themselves, and they achieved the ultimate goal for all Christian parents in guiding each of their children, by word and by example, to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Deanne got to meet Him face-to-face the moment she left this temporary earthly home in the early morning hours of June 7, 2026.
Deanne is preceded in death by her parents, B.T. and Mable Austin; her brothers, B.T. Junior, Bobby and Billy; her sister, Kay; and her husband of 59 years, Wink.
She leaves behind her children, Pam Killian and sonin- law Kim, Sharon Monzingo and son-in-law Matt and Dan Penney and daughter-in-law Jerri; her grandchildren, Ben Monzingo and wife Catherine, Whitney Coles and husband Clint, Kara Chambers and husband Beau, Austin Penney and wife Katie, Courtney Nelson and husband Trevor and Andrew Penney; her great-grandchildren, Easton, Millie, Levi, Cora, Ava, Wyatt, Luke, Tripp, Rosie and Tate; and, last but not least, her faithful dog, Caesar, who brought her daily joy in the past several years of her life. She has left an everlasting godly influence on them all.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 12, 2026, at First Baptist Church in Memphis, Texas with Rev. Daniel Downey officiating. Burial will follow in Fairview Cemetery in Memphis. Arrangements are by Robertson Funeral Directors of Memphis.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to First Baptist Church of Memphis.
Sign the online guest book at robertsonfuneral.com.
