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A Paris Queen From Back in the Day
A Paris Queen From Back in the Day
By Michele Husfelt
Affectionately known as the Queen of Paris, Susie Penic fondly reflects on her days of growing up “back in the day,” as she often says, in the village of Upperville.
Born in 1930 in a small tenant house on Glascock Farm, she was the eldest of 15 children. Her father worked on the farm while her mother stayed home to care for her growing family.
Susie reminisced about all the other “caretakers” of the children, including grandparents, relatives and neighbors, several called Big Mamas and Little Mamas. “Back in the day,” she recalled, “they were all so special to us and we all took care of each other.”
Susie spoke fondly of what she described as a fun childhood, with children playing outside from sunup until sundown, sprinkled with school and chores, which included walking to the local spring to collect water each day.
When she was ten, her father began working for H. Teller Archibald and his wife, Mildred King Hyde, owners of the famous chocolate company, Fannie May. After elementary school, a lack of transportation forced Susie to move to Washington D.C. to live with relatives so she could continue her education.
In Upperville, she had to walk four miles each way to her segregated school in Delaplane. White students “got to ride the bus, but we had to walk.” she said. “But it was all good. We had the best childhood, and it was all okay.”
At age 14, she lived in D.C. with the Sir Robert Hadow family, a British diplomat who owned the land that is now part of Sky Meadows State Park. She went to school during the day and worked for the family in the evenings and on weekends to earn her keep.
“They treated us like family,” Susie recalled. One of the highlights of her time with the Hadows was the evening she served tea to Eleanor Roosevelt in the living room of their home. “It was such a delight,” she said with her infectious smile spread across her face.
Susie married her late husband, Fenton Lee Penic, whom she met in third grade, and they built their home in Paris, Virginia, where she now resides. Together they raised three children, and she now adores her four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
All the women in her family attended Beulah Baptist Church in Markham, and all these years later, she still sings in the choir and serves as an usher when she can.
“Back in the day, we learned more about God at school than at church,” she said.
She dedicated her career to helping children, especially those with special needs. She worked many years at Northwestern Elementary School in Rectortown and the old Notre Dame Academy in Middleburg.
“If I can help somebody along the way, then my living will be worth it,” said the Queen of Paris. “I know I’m not here to stay, but I’m enjoying all of it.”
