George Cannon

George, aka ‘Georgie or ‘Cute George’, Cannon went home on Wednesday February 11, 2026 at the age of 91 years old. His smile, playfulness and kindness will always be lovingly remembered and cherished by Janis, his wife of 35 years, his daughter; Kris, son; Jeff and daughter-in-law; Lisa Gagnon. He will also be lovingly remembered by his brothers; Dennis, Robert (Marilyn), his two grandchildren; Jillian and Mathieu, adopted grandchildren; Shannon, Kimberly, Kevin and Kristin (Finvers), Janis’s daughter; Sue and her husband George Long and extended family; Paul and Maureen Gagnon and their families. Aggie Hollins, Kim and Ivars Finvers were special friends in George’s life and will miss him.

George was predeceased by his mother; Helen Mae Wilkin and father; George A Cannon, his wife; Anne (mother of Kris and Jeff), his adopted son; Thomas Cannon and several special friends (e.g. the Dalhousie group) and colleagues.

George was born in Calgary but moved to Winnipeg for school and the navy cadets. He grew up playing sports and was a very accomplished athlete, including playing major junior hockey and trying out for the Chicago Blackhawks. His passion for sports continued throughout his life from having season tickets to the Calgary Stampeders and later the Calgary Flames. Weekends were spent watching Stampede wrestling, practicing various holds on his two children and watching Hockey night in Canada in the evening. During the winter he would take Tom, Kris and Jeff to the outdoor hockey rinks to play scrimmage or practice shooting on his kids who were in net (with no extra equipment..lol). Grey Cup was a special time of the year and game watching parties were a staple in the house. When it came to sports, George was a serious spectator and had a reputation as a heckler of the ref’s. Even later in life when watching his grandchildren play sports you were on pins and needles waiting for the comments. He never criticized his children or his grandchildren and was always supportive of any accomplishment. If you tried your best, he was happy.

After moving back to Calgary George taught himself accounting and worked as an accountant for Firestone (where he met his former wife Anne through a double date), Canada Packers and then finally with the City of Calgary where he retired in 1998. Post retirement he took up golfing and he and Janis could be found most days golfing around Calgary and various 9-hole courses outside of Calgary. He drove cars for Hertz part time to keep busy and make a little ‘fun’ money. After he married Janis in 1991, he got into hiking and cross-country skiing and the two of them were members of the Calgary Weekend Hikers. He also got into square dancing for a few years. When him and Janis weren’t doing their various activities, they travelled locally via their little RV or travelled to places like Mexico, England and the Panama Canal. These trips were usually Janis, George and Janis’s two best friends Mona and Aggie. This jokingly became known as George and his harem.

A special place in his life was Willian Watson Lodge in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Him and Janis went there frequently and on occasion invited their family to join them. Happy hour with Scotch was a very important tradition at the end of a ski or hiking day.

Besides being physically active George was a serious card player and crib was his forte. Being a math whiz and good memory made him the most frustrating player to play against. There was no mercy even for his family when playing cards or board games. He relished bankrupting his kids and Anne in the game of monopoly and Janis can tell numerous stories of some serious Bridge games where he took it a bit too seriously.

After retiring George and Janis moved to Airdrie for a bit and enjoyed their time there being close to Sue and George and the grandchildren. After further downsizing they moved to the Sagehill Retirement facility and very much enjoyed the pampering they got there. They raved about the food, the kind staff and the social activities.

In the last few years George started slowing down but being the strong with a bit of stubborn person he was he recovered from 2 major hip operations at the age of 90. He went into hospital for the last time in late January with pneumonia and peacefully went home Feb 11.

We would like to thank the staff of Sagehill Retirement facility for their kindness to George. He was so fond of them and I’m sure it was reciprocated in kind. Also, thank you to U61 at Foothills Hospital, in particular his last two primary nurses for their compassion and gentleness with George and the family in his final days.

If you wish, any memorial donations can be made to a charity of your choice.