Dennis Cannon

1944 - 2017

Dennis Cannon obituary, 1944-2017, Gold Bar, WA

BORN

1944

DIED

2017

FUNERAL HOME

Acacia Memorial Park & Funeral Home

14951 Bothell Way NE

Seattle, Washington

Dennis Cannon Obituary

Dennis G. Cannon was born June 25, 1944, in St. Francis, Kansas, to Marjorie A. Snodgrass and Chester H. Vaughn. He died peacefully at his home on May 7 in Gold Bar, Washington.

A member of the 1961 and 1962 state-champion Lawrence High School football teams, Dennis later graduated from the University of Kansas with a doctorate in aerospace engineering. He then joined the Boeing Company in 1972 and worked as a manager there, primarily in flight controls, until he retired.

Always a champion and great supporter of others' goals and dreams, Dennis did what few others would dare and chased a dream of his own - training racehorses at Longacres - while on a two-year break from engineering.

He was an always-hopeful-but-occasionally-disgruntled Mariners and Seahawks fan who loved hunting, fishing, sitting down to a hand of poker, watching a good western movie and, in recent years, cheering on his grandson during baseball and basketball games. Dennis was quick with a joke or a story but always had time to listen. He was the kindest of souls and will be missed terribly by those who love him.

He was preceded in death by his parents and is survived by his daughter, Katie Cannon, son-in-law Doug Miller, and grandson Rowan Miller, all of Issaquah, Washington. Surviving family members also include his brother, Ken Cannon, of Skaneateles, New York, and three sisters: Virginia Kanza of Wichita, Kansas; Connie Snow of Lawrence, Kansas; and Debbie Sink of Ottawa, Kansas; eight nieces and nephews and 14 grand-nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held at Lombardi's Italian Restaurant 1620 W. Marine View Dr., Everett, Washington, 98201, from 4-7 p.m. on Friday, June 9.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to a favorite cancer-research or wildlife charity - or give a $20 to the guy on the corner who is down on his luck and say it's from Dennis.

Published by Lawrence Journal-World on May 14, 2017.
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Memories and Condolences
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I just found out Dennis died my greatest sympathies to a great man great father and great friend. He also had the best daughter ever Katie and he will be missed immensely and I am sure I will see you myself soon Dennis. I always loved you I am so sorry I could not be there for you may God Bless You and keep you. Love forever Arlette

Arlette

Friend

September 12, 2022

Very sorry Katie. David and I loved Dennis and had a ton of fun with him playing golf, if you could call it that. Ryan also loved him and Dennis took Ryan to get his drivers license. Passages of time.

Brenda Nielsen

June 21, 2017

Meeting people can change the course of one's life. And I have to give credit to Dennis for changing mine.
In 1996, having spent the previous two years in Seattle working for GEC Avionics on the Boeing 777, I moved back to the UK (my homeland), expecting to continue where I'd left off. Things weren't working out too well for me that year. But during one of Dennis' trips to GEC in Rochester, we were having a casual conversation about my situation, and he said he could get me a job at Boeing! So, he contacted Boeing Human Resources, and I managed to obtain a work visa. A few months later I moved back to Seattle, where I have lived ever since!
I am very sad to hear of Dennis' passing. It's been a few years since I last saw him, but I will never forget him and that casual conversation we had
With deepest sympathies to the family.
Rest in Peace, Dennis.
Simon

Simon Buckmaster

June 9, 2017

I met Dennis in 1995, when I assumed responsibility for Procurement of the 777 Primary Flight Computer (PFC). Dennis was the PFC Engineering Manager at the time, and I must admit, I was initially intimidated by his intelligence and larger than life personality. However, Dennis went out of his way to make me feel part of the team, including me in his staff meetings, and providing full support to Supplier Management, despite the demanding workload and tight schedules his team faced to deliver updated software, following the 777's entry into service. As I got to know Dennis, I found him to be warm-hearted, intensely loyal to those on his team, and highly proficient in managing a group of extremely talented, but very diverse engineers, technical support and supplier personnel, both in Everett and in the UK. I had the good fortune to travel with Dennis to England on several occasions, and after the workday ended, Dennis was always the life of the party, ready with a good story or willing to engage in a proposed escapade.

I last spoke with Dennis several years ago, when he was trying to organize a PFC reunion get-together, which I don't believe ever came to be. The Boeing Company and those who had the good fortune to work for and with Dennis have lost a dedicated engineer and a great friend. My deepest condolences to his family.

Kathy

Kathy Nelson

June 8, 2017

I am very saddened to hear of Dennis' passing. Condolences to his Family.

I met Dennis shortly after I joined Boeing in January 1978. My first assignment was to reduce and analyze flight test data from the NASA 515 TCV airplane. Dennis was stationed at NASA Langley with the airplane and gathering the data for us. We all worked in Flight Systems Technology under Dick Schoenman. After the program's conclusion, most of us moved to 767 development and Dennis became my lead for the development of the 767 Thrust Management System; Jim McWha was our super-lead and we all worked for Alan Mulally. Dennis and I worked together on many projects until I retired in 2009, including the 777 and 787 Flight Controls, and finally in BCA Electronic Systems Cabin & Network Systems.

Dennis had a huge heart and great sense of humor, he worked very hard and continually gave his best shot to deliver a good product, and he was always loyal to his friends. I have so many great memories of him and they all are wonderfully pleasant. We will all miss Dennis and I regret that I did not stay in touch with him after my retirement. I would have loved to shoot the breeze, reminisce and have a few laughs.

Dennis, once you told my son, when he was a little boy, lifting him up in the air I love your dad! . . . . I love you, too, my dear friend, and my son still remembers you.

MO

Munir Orgun

June 7, 2017

Dennis was my supervisor at Boeing in the early 1980s. I enjoyed his coaching, advice, humor and good will. We were developing the Thrust Management System for the 757 and 767, which involved a lot of coordination between other engineering groups. In those days, we were "staff" and had a companion "project" group. Needless to say, there were a lot of meetings, and it was a pleasure to stand in Dennis's shadow. He had stories and philosophies that did not always make complete sense to me - he was a deep thinker. I remember telling him how satisfying it was to solve a problem that had come up in a panic, and he went off on did that mean I wanted to be managed with a gun to my head? Suffice it to say, a conversation with Dennis could end up in a different place than you might expect. I lost track of Dennis all these years, but was glad to see he chased some dreams, had some success, but mostly, I hope he had fun - for that was one lasting gift that rubbed off on me.

Peter Lemme

June 2, 2017

My wife Vinita and I were very sad to hear of Dennis' passing. We were schoolmates with Dennis in high school in Lawrence, Kansas. My initial friendship with Dennis revolved around football. I remember that the coaches put a piece of tape on the front of the helmets of new players with an abbreviated name. His was DSnod to distinguish him from his brother Ken who was KSnod. Those nicknames stuck. I believe Dennis was the one back then who gave me the nickname Curls. Later we both majored in Aerospace Engineering at KU and we continued to graduate school. I have very fond memories of those days. While at KU I remember fishing trips, pick-up basketball ("shoot the pill" as he would say), flag football, and goings on in the grad student bull pen. I remember Dennis as a competitive, hardworking, serious, straight-up, no nonsense kind of guy. Sadly for me, we never had contact after I left KU in 1968. I often thought of Dennis and Ken over the years but never reconnected. I have to say that I would never have guessed that race horses and poker would become Dennis' passions as I read about. But I am in no way surprised about his success as an engineer and manager at Boeing. He was always hard driven to succeed. I know Dennis will be sorely missed by all of those who knew him well. Special condolences to Katie and his grandson.

Dick Richardson

June 1, 2017

I met Dennis when I joined Boeing in 1980. I had the pleasure of working for him on 3 different assignments, for more than a decade. Dennis was a great boss; he took his role seriously and gave full effort in getting the most from and for his people and for Boeing. - I witnessed his interactions with over 100 employees and I was always impressed with his ability to provide leadership, guidance and support.

Dennis had a flair for making friends and livening up a room. After only a few weeks on assignment in England, Dennis was somehow everybody's best friend, both at the worksite and all over town. He had a knack for generating good will; he could tell a great story and he drew the best stories out of others.

Dennis was the perfect outdoors companion he was up for any hunting or fishing adventure, he kept up his end of the conversation, didn't grouse about not getting his limit, and insisted on paying more than his share for gas. And he bought a boat! .In these pursuits, Dennis was a true conservationist - he conducted his hunting and fishing activities in a fashion that resulted in essentially no impact on the fish and wildlife populations.

I miss him.

Craig Buckham

May 31, 2017

I met Dennis through an ad in the Daily Racing Form in 1985, we were both looking to buy thoroughbred race horses. As it turns out we were both engineers with Boeing but never worked together. We ended up owning a couple of horses together, the first one never broke it's maiden, but did manage to break Dennis's middle finger - so I guess I'm to blame for that.

To say Dennis had a significant impact on my and my family's life is an understatement. You couldn't help being around Dennis and not have him rub off on you. I learned a lot about accountability and follow through from him. A more giving and encouraging person I've never met. His good example helped me while raising my family. I know he loved seeing his daughter Katie excel as she moved from childhood to adulthood to motherhood.

I never got to work with Dennis while at Boeing but I believe two things to be true about him. First, as an engineer he was likely the smartest guy in any room he was in. Second, while I have no data to support this, I also believe the path between his office and HR was likely well travelled for a variety of reasons.

For the first 20 years I knew him it seems for Dennis and I it always came back to horses for some reason. We spent many, many race days trying to crack the code at Longacres. My wife and I also travelled to local tracks in Spokane and Yakima following him and our horses trying to get a win photo. We attended many races with friends and family including a trip to the Breederscup in Chicago.

In later life we both tried to crack the poker code and enjoyed fishing. The last time I saw him in person was in late January of this year. We played in a poker tournament at the Tulalip casino. I got bounced early and went to play dice. About 2 hours later I got a call from Dennis asking me "did I know where he could cash all these chips in at?". He'd beat a field of about 50 players to win the tournament that day. So, with this he was able to go out a winner!

I know Dennis will have made his peace by now as he was ever interested in the afterlife. For someone who life's work was grounded in the physics of things, the afterlife and the invisible hand that guides our world amazed him. I know he'll have found his answers by now.

Sadly and somewhat fittingly, Dennis's last day with us was the same day as the biggest horse race of the year - the Kentucky Derby. Using horse racing terms I would describe Dennis as a Triple Crown winning friend, person and father. I know there is no race results chart written for one's life but if there was for Dennis I'm pretty sure the race commentary would be something along the lines of "Broke on top smartly to start, moved up easily down the backside, checked sharply at the half mile pole, finished strongly with a winning move under mild urging. Raced wide throughout. Won going away".

Rest In Peace my good friend.

Jerry Wooley

May 27, 2017

Karen Zeigler

May 22, 2017

Katie~
I am so very sorry for the loss you are enduring with your dad, Dennis.
He was a very good friend to me and a wonderful soul.....he was always there to offer up words of encouragement for me when I was down and sad. I will miss him terribly!
We always talked on the phone or chatted on facebook, I never had the honor to actually meet him face to face, that was one of the main items on my bucket list...to ly out and actually really meet the man behind the pictures and on the other end of the telephone. We talked of fishing off his deck LOL and going whale watching...It saddens me so to hear of his passing. I had known he was sick and trying to recover from his past surgery.
My prayers are with you and your family at this horribly sad time..may god hold you in his arms to help ease your pain
My deepest condolences,
Karen Zeigler

Karen Zeigler

May 22, 2017

Daniel G Dunn

May 18, 2017

I was surprised to hear of Dennis's passing. I'm sorry for your loss. He was my boss when I worked in Flight Controls at Boeing before I retired. He was always a fair man to me . . . He'll be missed.

Daniel G Dunn

May 18, 2017

My most sincere condolences to Dennis's family. He was such an important part of my high school years and part of our family for some time. Nice to know that he too loved and trained horses. He had such a tender heart and a wonderful mind. Am sorry to know he's gone. He will be missed.

Anne Buhler Jones

May 16, 2017

I am shaken, I realize now how fond I am of Dennis. He and Kenny used to fight like hell but thy were one. He always made others feel they were important and going to make their climb. He was close to being a naval aviator and Top Gun doesn't know what they lost. We'll see you at the next fishing hole
with Steve, Wayne, Eddie, and the Naval ROTC basketball buddy.

785-214-0125

Monty Nelon

May 16, 2017

Dennis, there were very few people (if any) at Lawrence High School that I appreciated more than you. The marine corps drill instructor who could transpose to a nurse without missing the proverbial step. If there was anyone who could do it all better than you, I have no idea who that might be. Just don't forget to stiff-arm that last tackler before you run into Heaven, my friend!
~Roy H KIng

roy king

May 15, 2017

Dennis was a close friend to me in high school and at KU. He was a living example of the power of sheer determination.

His play on the football field one night characterized his life for me. Dennis was a defensive lineman. The opposing team had fumbled near the line of scrimmage. There was scrum for the ball, then emerged this figure of a lumbering lineman. It was Dennis. His stride was long but not so fast. Yet he was very determined. As the play progressed (it felt like the scene moved in slow motion), a tackler was gaining on Dennis as he neared the goal line. I could see at the rate Dennis was moving, he would surely be overtaken. Undeterred, at the moment the tackler made his lunge, Dennis thrust forth a might stiff-arm, shook off the tackler and lumbered past the goal line. Dennis was the only lineman to score that year, possible for several years.. Dennis was not the fastest, most agile runner on that field. But he had decided he would score and NOTHING would deter him. In his early life, Dennis had dealt with much adversity and through it he learned one of life's valuable lessons. "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." Mark Twain.
Thank you for helping me with math, physics and chemistry and most of all - Thank you for being a living legend to power of sheer determination and not ever giving up. I will miss you, my friend. My condolences to your family.
[email protected]

Dave Buhler

May 14, 2017

Dennis, rest in peace and may Lord be with you and your family. I enjoyed knowing you. I will miss you brother.

Amir Anissipour

May 11, 2017

Dennis came into my life in 1997 and was my mentor and best friend for the past twenty years. Never did a week go by when we did not talk. As a result of this true friendship he helped me worked through life and I personally grew in my life by knowing this great man, his advise and will be forever grateful for that privilege. Words cannot express the deep loss I have, or anyone who ever knew this wonderful and genuine authentic man who love our Lord and Savior. Until we meet again my brethren. Love Bob Wiltse

Bob Wiltse

May 10, 2017

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Jun

9

Celebration of Life

4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Lombardi's Italian Restaurant

1620 W. Marine View Dr., Everett, WA

Funeral services provided by:

Acacia Memorial Park & Funeral Home

14951 Bothell Way NE, Seattle, WA 98155

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