Kathleen "Kitti" Raye Swinney Pennell

Kathleen “Kitti” Raye Swinney Pennell, 53, Virginia Beach, Virginia, formerly of Mooresville, died tragically November 28, 2013, while working in Afghanistan, as a result of a terrorist rocket attack. Kitti was born December 18, 1959, in Indianapolis, to the late R. Lowell Swinney and Joyce (Shelley) Swinney, who survives in Mooresville.

Kitti grew up in Mooresville, graduating from Mooresville High School in 1978. She was a tennis player and honor student in school. She graduated from Purdue University in 1982, where she was a member of Phi Mu Sorority. She had been employed as a Flight Operations Coordinator for AAR since June 2009. Prior to, she was a flight dispatcher for FedEx in Indianapolis form 2000 – May 2009. Kitti loved learning and was a perpetual student. She was an accomplished quilter and spent many hours quilting during her flights. Kitti enjoyed racing and worked on an auto racing team in the ASA league with her late brother, Brian. Kitti will be missed by her loving family and many friends.

In addition to her father, Kitti was preceded in death by brothers, Brian L., Jonathan, and Andrew Swinney.

Survivors include her husband of nine years, Joseph Pennell; mother, Joyce (Shelley) Swinney of Mooresville; son, Wilson Clay Pennell; sisters, Lari Clayton of Mooresville, Indiana, Beki M. Poe (Ted) of Indianapolis, and Nan Alison Hebenstreit (James) of Indianapolis; a large and loving extended family, including eleven nieces and nephews.

Friends and family will gather on Thursday, December 5, 2013, 4 to 8 p.m., in the Carlisle – Branson Funeral Service & Crematory, Mooresville. The funeral service will begin at 10 a.m., Friday, December 6, 2013, in the First Christian Church, 525 North Indiana Street, Mooresville. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Quilt of Valor, Wounded Warriors, to the Phi Mu Scholarship Fund, or to a local animal shelter. Envelopes will be available at the funeral home. Burial will be in West Newton Cemetery. Visit www.carlislebranson.com to share a favorite memory or to sign the online guest registry.