Lela Marie King

Lela Marie Pennington King, 81, of Cape Carteret passed away peacefully at her home on June 16, 2025 following a battle with cancer.

Lela was born in the farm community of Adams, Tennessee on August 24, 1943. In her early years, her family moved from farm to farm in the county seeking better employment opportunities. As a young girl, she learned the hard work of farm life. When she became a teenager, her family moved from the country to Clarksville, Tennessee where her father was employed as a factory worker and her mother, an accomplished seamstress, worked as a dressmaker. Life improved for them. It was then that Lela learned to sew and could do about anything with a sewing machine from altering clothes, customizing a van or making a prom dress. Lela graduated from Woodlawn High School in 1962 and enrolled in Austin Peay State University where she graduated with a BS in accounting in three years. She was the only girl in her class. She went to work with the Tennessee Department of Revenue when she met a young Army Lieutenant waiting on orders for Vietnam. They were married and companions for the next 57 years. Lela loved playing recreational volleyball and tennis and her culinary skills were exceptional. She could literally make something out of nothing. She became attached to coastal living and early vacations were spent surf fishing and travelling the coastal towns from Florida to Nova Scotia, always wanting to sample the seafood at the local restaurants. She loved swimming in the coastal waters and especially enjoyed drifting for flounder in Bogue Inlet. In her later years, her sons planned afternoon gatherings at their homes culminating in big dinners where everyone brought something to share. It was there that she was surrounded by her children and grandchildren on a regular basis. As we rode home in the evening after these gatherings she would always comment on when the next one would be.

Lela is predeceased by her father, Neal Pennington, her mother, Margie Marie Pennington Stooksbury, a brother Robert Neal Pennington, and a sister Clara Pennington. She is survived by her husband Michael Lewis King of the home, sons Thomas Keith and Michael Travis King of Greenville, daughter Jennifer Lynn King of Raleigh, grandsons, Zachariah Thomas King and Jameson Isbel, and a granddaughter Maya Marie King, all of Greenville, NC. She is also survived by her sister Nancy Pennington Hestle of Clarksville Tennessee.

A private “Celebration of Life” is planned at the home in Cape Carteret. Lela was comforted at home in her final days by her husband and loving daughter, Jenn.