Penny A. Pilzer Obituary
Penny Ann Pilzer of Rockport, Massachusetts, left this life on Monday, January 20, 2025, surrounded by her children, Cassandra and Gregory Waters, and her husband, Daniel Waters. The cause of death was lung cancer.
Penny was born to John and Onilee Pilzer in Gary, Indiana, on June 17, 1952. She spent her childhood playing in the dunes along Lake Michigan with her brother Don and friends. While attending William A. Wirt High School, she wrote a regular column for the local newspaper, demonstrating a talent and love for writing that remained throughout her life. She went on to graduate with an honors diploma in history from the University of Michigan in 1974, and then moved to Boston to attend Harvard Law School, graduating in 1979. She met her husband, Dan, on the first day of law school, when they signed the entry book one after the other. They were married at All Saints Episcopal Church in Brookline, Massachusetts on December 30, 1978.
Penny and Dan moved to Washington, DC in 1979, where she worked as a lawyer representing workers and labor unions. Her many successes there included an important First Amendment case, which she argued and won before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. She later joined the law firm O'Donnell Shwartz and Andersen, before founding her own practice in 1991, specializing in advising unions on their health care plans. In the wake of the bankruptcy of Eastern Airlines, she achieved a significant victory for the flight attendants, extending funding for their health benefits.
Penny and Dan's first child, Cassandra, was born in 1983, followed by their son, Gregory, in 1986. In 1993, the family moved to London, England for Dan's work. Penny and Dan went to London thinking it would be an adventure for a few years, but ended up living there for 25. After helping settle the family into life in the UK, she became a qualified solicitor, specializing in pension policy in one of the world's most complex retirement systems.
Penny and Dan moved back to the United States at the end of 2018. They chose to settle in Rockport, Massachusetts, where they had their first date in 1977, and where they spent all their children's summer vacations. Penny joined the Town of Rockport Government and By-Laws Committee, and remained engaged in that, right up to the time of her death.
Penny and Dan were blessed with three grandchildren, Isaac, Eli and Ynez. The grandchildren were the undoubted greatest joy of Penny's later years, and she cherished them deeply.
Penny was a voracious reader, devouring literature of all kinds at an astronomical pace. She loved being with friends in nature, from leading week-long walks through the English countryside, to happily getting lost in the incomprehensible trails of Dogtown.
She was a lifelong cat whisperer, who provided shelter and found homes for many strays, while, somewhat ironically, developing a fascination and love of birds.
Penny was unfailingly generous, and had an exceptional ability to understand others, and offer them the right type of support, when they needed it most. Anyone who knew her will remember her infectious laugh. She kept her sense of humor even in the darkest times. She cared fiercely about fairness, equality, and decency for all people. She departed this life deeply beloved by her family and many dear friends around the world.
Her ashes will be interred in a private family gathering at Beech Grove Cemetery in Rockport on February 8th. A Celebration of her Life will be held at Rockport Music's Shalin Liu Performance Center on May 10th. Event details will be provided on her webpage on caringbridge.org.
Should you wish to make a donation in her memory, please consider Rockport Music, http://www.rockportmusic.org; the Massachusetts Audubon Society, http://www.massaudubon.org; or the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, http://www.gmgi.org.
Arrangements by Greely Funeral Home, 212 Washington Street, Gloucester, MA 01930.
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