Dan Pennington (1910-1979) was the son of Daniel Boone Pennington and Ada Ward Pennington. He married Elsie Wade, daughter of Leonard Wade and Ruth Morris Wade. The Wades had moved to Grapeland in 1932 from Henderson, Texas. Dan and Elsie Pennington had one child, Judy Pennington Rowan, and one grandchild, Richard Lee Rowan, Jr. (Rip). At an early age, Dan developed a love for motors and all things mechanical. This love lasted all his life. At first, he owned a truck or two and gradually added equipment to his business until finally, in 1948, he purchased his first earth-moving equipment. He then went into the road building business. This led him all over the state of Texas, building and surfacing mile and mile of state highways. He continued this work for the rest of his life. In 1953, Dan Pennington moved his business home to Grapeland and continued to operate his road construction business from his hometown. Dan took great pride in Grapeland and helped his community in many ways. When the Grapeland people began to work to build their hospital, Dan volunteered his time and equipment to prepare the building site. After the hospital building was completed, he built and paved the driveways and parking lot. He also built and paved the streets in the Grapeland CityCemetery and prepared the grounds for the roping arena for the Grapeland Jaycees. The streets in the city of Grapeland were an ongoing project. The people of Grapeland got the highest quality streets at a cost unattainable from any other source. Dan also maintained the streets and repaired them when he saw the need. He tended to drainage problems in different areas of the town. In fact, it would be interesting to know how many church, school and civic projects he paved at nominal or no cost. Dan was known for his willingness to help other men in his community who were out of a job due to adverse circumstances. He always found a job in his business to help them over the bad times. His friends remember with pleasure his enjoyment of the domino games under the tree at the County Barn. He was a perfectionist. Anything worth doing was worth doing right. His good reputation among his peers all over the state was proof of this belief.