James Cash Penney

Penney was born on September 16, 1875, on a farm outside of Hamilton, Missouri, the seventh of twelve children, only six of whom lived to adulthood, born to James Cash Penney and Mary Frances (born Paxton) Penney. Penney's father was a Primitive Baptist preacher and farmer whose strict discipline included making his son pay for his own clothing once he reached eight years of age.

After graduation from Hamilton High School, Penney intended to attend college with hopes of becoming a lawyer. His father's untimely death, however, forced a change in plans, and Penney was forced to work as a store clerk to help support the family. Penney's tuberculosis caused him to venture west to Longmont, Colorado.

University of Miami

Penney was involved with the founding of the University of Miami, and served on its Board of Trustees from 1926 to 1930.

Professional fraternities

Penney was a member of two professional collegiate fraternities: Alpha Gamma Rho for agriculture and Alpha Kappa Psi for business.

Penney was married three times. His first marriage, to Berta Alva Hess (1867–1910) in 1899, produced two sons before her death from pneumonia:

Roswell Kemper Penney (1901–1971), who married Willa Graff.

James Cash Penney III (1903–1938), who married Louise Ducoudray in 1927.

After Berta died in 1910, he married Mary Hortense Kimball (d. 1923) in July 1919. Mary gave birth to one son before her death due to a hemorrhage associated with an ectopic pregnancy:

Kimball Penney (1920–1979)

In 1926, Penney married Caroline Marie Autenrieth (1895–1992). She was badly hurt in 1928 when she fell from a horse at their estate in White Plains, New York. They had two daughters:

Mary Frances Penney (1927–2020), a professor of chemistry who obtained a PhD from the University of Oxford and a bachelor's degree from MIT, was married to Dr. Philip Franklin Wagley, son of Everitt F. Wagley, in 1953.

Carol Marie Penney (1930–2002), who earned a degree in international relations from Stanford University, and was married to David Guyer, attaché of the United Nations Technical Mission at Delhi.

Awards and philanthropy

In 1953, the Springfield, Missouri Chamber of Commerce presented Penney with a "Ozark Hillbilly Medallion" and a certificate proclaiming him a "hillbilly of the Ozarks."

Penney founded the James C. Penney Foundation in 1954. The foundation was restructured in 1999, with half the proceeds going to the Penney Family Fund, which is not affiliated with J. C. Penney Co., Inc., or its corporate giving program. The Penney Family Fund supports national organizations and state-based ones in Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and New Mexico that work to advance racial and environmental justice.

In 1960, Penney teamed up with the University of Missouri to establish the Penney-Missouri Awards to recognize excellence in Women's Page journalism, hoping to improve the sections where his stores most often advertised.