Lela Marie Pennington King

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

Lela was born in Adams, Tennessee on August 24, 1943. Lela graduated from Woodlawn High School in 1962 and in three short years, became Austin Peay State University’s first female to graduate with a BS in accounting. She was also an expert seamstress. She went to work with the Tennessee Department of Revenue where she met a young Army Lieutenant. They were married and companions for the next 57 years. Lela loved playing recreational volleyball and tennis and her culinary skills were exceptional. She became attached to coastal living and early vacations were spent surf fishing and travelling the coastal towns from Florida to Nova Scotia. She loved swimming in the coastal waters and especially enjoyed drifting for flounder in Bogue Inlet. In her later years, she enjoyed family gatherings. It was there that she was surrounded by her children and grandchildren on a regular basis.

Lela is predeceased by her father, Neal Pennington; mother, Margie Marie Pennington Stooksbury; brother, Robert Neal Pennington, and sister, Clara Pennington.

She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Michael Lewis King; 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.