June 20, 1918 — February 20, 2016
Professor George Richards Cannon, 97, passed away peacefully on February 20, 2016. He was born on June 20, 1918 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Hugh J. and Sarah Richards Cannon and was named after his two prominent grandfathers, George Q. Cannon and George F. Richards.
He married Lois Eriksson in 1941 and they were blessed with eight children, losing a daughter, Ann, in infancy. Lois passed away in 2004 and George married her younger sister, Mary Eriksson, in 2009. Mary passed away on December 11, 2015.
He was a lifelong faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. George lived in Switzerland with his family from 1925 to 1928 while his dad was President of the Swiss-German Mission.
He did most of his undergraduate studies at Caltech and pursued advanced degrees at UCLA. During the first part of World War II, he served in the U.S. Merchant Marine and was barely out of Pearl Harbor when it was attacked.
He served as chairman of several high-tech corporations and retired from California State University, Northridge with the rank of Professor Emeritus. His life was filled with numerous unusually interesting experiences and acquaintances with many notable personalities in the Church and in the technical fields in which he worked.
He is survived by seven of his children and their spouses: George, Hugh (Bonnie), Erik (Camille), Bob (Cheri), Chris (Tina), Laurel (Lynn Rogers), and Don (Lori). He is survived by a brother, Max, but was preceded in death by brothers, Donald and Dean, and by a sister, Alice. At the time of his death, George had 35 grandchildren and 73 great grandchildren.
Funeral Services
- Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. in the Metcalf Mortuary Chapel, 288 W. St. George Blvd., St. George, Utah.
- A visitation will be held Saturday, from 12:00-1:30 at Metcalf Mortuary.
- Interment will be in the St. George Cemetery.
Arrangements entrusted to the care of Metcalf Mortuary, (435)673-4221. For condolences, please visit http://www.metcalfmortuary.com.