Irene Wells Pennington (December 1898 – July 17, 2003) was the widow of Claude B. "Doc" Pennington, a wealthy oilman

Petroleum industry

The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting , and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline...

 from Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

.

When he was well into his 90s and losing his touch mentally, she had him declared mentally incompetent and took charge of his fortune, estimated by Forbes

Forbes

Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

at $600 million.

She straightened out financial irregularities and replaced managers then and shortly after his death, before largely retiring herself.

This drew considerable attention not only because of the substantial value of the fortune but because of the remarkable fact of a senile nonagenarian's affairs being taken over by someone actually slightly older than he.

External links

• Claude Pennington on 1996 Forbes 400 (oldest member of the list)
• Irene Pennington on 1997 Forbes 400 (oldest member of the list)
• Irene Pennington on 1998 Forbes 400 (oldest member of the list)
• Irene Pennington on 1999 Forbes 400 (oldest member of the list)