Filippo Pennella, 92, resident of Springfield, MO, passed away on March 23, 2026. He was born on July 18, 1933 in Castelvenere, Italy, the son of Ines Ferrigni and Mennato Pennella. At the age of 13, he left home and studied at Liceo Classico Benvenuto Rambaldi in Imola, Italy. This was an important part of his life as the school curriculum focused on classical studies, including Latin, Greek, and humanities, and started his passion for learning. He made lifelong friends that he kept in touch with until his death.

He came to America at the age of 19 at the request of his uncle Raffaele Ferrigni. His uncle provided $200 to pay for his tuition during the first semester at Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey. He proudly recalled that was the only money he ever accepted from his uncle. He worked odd jobs during the semesters and summers to pay for his education at Upsala College. This included working in a zipper factory, a grocery store, and as a teaching assistant.  

He graduated with a B.S. degree in biology with a minor in chemistry and entered the Ph.D. program in chemistry at Ohio State University. During his time in graduate school, he met Barbara Swain, an engineering student at the university, and they fell in love. In 1960, they married and had their first child a year later. He defended his dissertation in 1964.

Soon after receiving his Ph.D., Filippo started working at Phillips Petroleum company in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He spent his career as an experimental physical chemist in the Research and Development division. He was a prolific researcher and inventor at Phillips Petroleum Company in the fields of catalysis and petrochemical processes. He was the primary author or co-author on 23 patents and at least 13 research publications during his tenure at the company. 

When his children were young, he would take them fishing, fossil hunting and make regular family trips to Woolaroc, a wildlife preserve, museum, and historic ranch. As they grew, he encouraged them to pursue higher education and supported each of them through college and advanced degrees. He was devoted to his wife and family, a good and loving father who strived to instill in his children his work ethic, his love of learning, his sense of humor, his taste for coffee, his fondness for Italy, and his thoughtfulness. He will be dearly missed by his friends and family as he loved to converse on any topic and always showed his appreciation for the time and help others gave him.

Barbara, his beloved wife of 59 years, passed away in 2019. He is survived by his seven children: daughter Ines (Mitch) Gordon and sons Michele (Tanja), Raffaele (Maryam), Teodoro, Italo (Kim), Fabio (Sulma), and Mario (Min); sixteen grandchildren; his cat Blackie; and his brothers Francesco Pennella and Bruno Pennella, who reside in Italy along with their extensive families. 

A funeral mass will be held for Filippo at St. Agnes Cathedral, 533.S Jefferson Avenue in Springfield, Missouri on Friday, April 17, 2026 at 1:00 pm.