It is with a sad heart that we honor and remember Penny Knuckles who passed away on January 4, 2024. Her entire life was a storied gift to wildlife and their habitats, as beautifully noted here.
While on Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll), Ann Humphrey, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee, recalls listening to Penny Knuckles play her recorder at night on the back porch of one to the officer quarters. As the melodious notes were played, Bonin petrels came out of nowhere and approached her, pied piper-like. The attraction to the sound was so strong that they hopped up on her legs and arms and peacefully stayed there. She also vividly recalls Penny being a model hard worker, showing that age doesn't matter but physical and mental fitness do when removing the most noxious invasive plants on Midway Atoll.
There is not much doubt that the landscape she nurtured misses her positive energy just as much as the people who adored her infectious spirit. However, her legacy will live on through her $10,000 posthumous gift to FOMA that matches her generous spirit and lifelong desire to have a positive impact on the wildlife of Kuaihelani. Peggy’s gift is a reminder that any one of our members can set up charitable contributions designated through one’s estate, will, or trust; this is through Planned Giving. It costs nothing during one’s lifetime, but a decision such as Peggy’s, to include FOMA in her will, serves as a powerful reminder of the outsized impact that one can have through legacy giving.
Article written by Ann Bell