Lavinia ‘Vinni’ Penniman, piano teacher and school musical theater director, dies

Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun
·2 min read

Lavinia “Vinni” Penniman, a piano teacher and school musical theater director, died of dementia March 24 at the Pickersgill Retirement Community in Towson. The former Stoneleigh resident was 93.

Born Lavinia McCune Bratton in New London, Connecticut, she was the daughter of McCune Bratton, a salesman, and Edith Wooten, a teacher.

Raised in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Lavinia Bratton “Vinni” Penniman was a 1948 graduate of Lebanon High School and moved to Baltimore to attend the Peabody Institute at the Johns Hopkins University. She earned a teacher’s certificate in piano.

She met her future husband, C. Douglas Penniman, through mutual friends. They married in 1954.

Mrs. Penniman taught piano classes in the Baltimore County school system. She also gave private piano lessons in a studio in her Kenleigh Road home in Stoneleigh.

“Many of her students went on to pursue careers in music,” said her daughter Jennifer P. Sweigart. “She played well and often played Beethoven, Brahms and Chopin, among many others. Personally, she was a lot of fun and a giving person.”

She was an active member of the Peabody Alumni Association and served as president for two years.

Mrs. Penniman was also on the Alumni Council for the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association representing Peabody.

She was a volunteer for the Baltimore Symphony Associates and chaired its Young Soloists competitions in the 1970s.

Mrs. Penniman enjoyed being instrumental in furthering young pianists’ careers.

She and a colleague, Nancy Davenport, wrote and directed annual productions of “Follies” for Stoneleigh Elementary School and Towson High School.

Mrs. Penniman also directed handbell choirs at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Roland Park.

She and her husband traveled to Europe and the Caribbean Islands.

“My mother loved to entertain, but her own weeknight dinners were often hurried. She taught piano at home after school and didn’t have much time. They were still good meals and we called them Vin-dins, after her name,” said her daughter Jennifer.

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In 1996, Mrs. Penniman and her husband and two other couples formed the Chesapeake chapter of AMC Cancer Research, of which she was president for two years.

She enjoyed writing poetry and published a collection of her poems.

In 2002, Mrs. Penniman started a bereavement ministry at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, where she was a communicant.

A visitation will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Mitchell-Wiedefeld Funeral Home at 6500 York Road.

Survivors include two daughters, Virginia P. Grauel, of Timonium, and Jennifer P. Sweigart, of Phoenix in Baltimore County; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. A daughter, Leslie P. Hodges, died in 1992. Her husband, C. Douglas Penniman, a life insurance salesman, died in 2021.