Okatie – Samuel “Sam” Cannon, 92, of Spring Island, Okatie, S.C., felt at home in both an executive boardroom and wading on a bonefish flat.
He was born Feb. 8, 1932 in Danville, Ill. to John William Cannon and Elizabeth (née Phillips) Cannon. His love of the outdoors began early in his childhood;boating, bird hunting, games and fly fishing became his favorite pastimes. He was also introduced to golf by frequently serving as his father’s caddy and later playing whenever he could for the rest of his life.
At Danville High School, he was on the swim team and the freshman debate team, a team that bested the school’s varsity debaters. He majored in business at Northwestern University, where he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity; he later attended the Kellogg Business School for additional graduate training. While in college, Sam joined the inaugural special Marine officer training program to recruit college students to the service. He went to basic training at Parris Island, S.C., then was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. and completed his service at Quantico, Va. He was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant and returned to Danville to join his father at the family insurance business Cannon and Cochran.
When his father retired, Sam became the CEO of the business and built it into an even more successful company. In 1978, he founded Cannon-Cochran Management Services (CCMSI), which grew into a multi-state, independent third-party administrator. A true innovator, Sam established it as an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. He credited the organization’s success to the excellence that comes from employees having a vested interest in providing the highest quality services to their clients.
When his two children, Steve and Anne, were grown, Sam met the love of his life, Jacqueline “Jacque” Kaler, when she joined the firm. They were married May 25, 1985. Sam, Jacque, and all the great people at CCMSI worked tirelessly to establish the company as a national leader by providing their growing client base with the most innovative services available. When Sam and Jacque weren’t working, they loved to travel, exploring several continents and dozens of countries, with Africa, the British Isles, France, Italy and Greece among their shared favorites.
Sam was an industry leader and served on the board of the Self Insurance Institute of America (SIIA) for a number of years and chaired the board for a period of time. He also served on the Board of Directors of Palmer Bank, Danville’s Lakeview Hospital and First Savings and Loan Association of Danville. He was active in the United Way and later, with Jacque, in the Abaco Friends of the Environment group.
Sam and Jacque loved new experiences and places, settling at various times in the desert of California, mountains of Lake Tahoe and the coast of Florida and South Carolina. Throughout much of his life, Sam enjoyed bird hunting with his German Shorthaired Pointers. He introduced Jacque to the sport by having her wear the blaze vest that stored the day’s game, then teaching her to become a skilled markswoman herself.
Two of Sam’s passions were saltwater fly fishing and boating. Sam and Jacque took an annual fishing trip to Canada and fished in Alaska several times. They cruised the Florida Keys, the Bahamas and the Caribbean on their long-range Nordhavn boat, Andromeda, for three years before settling for a dozen years in a home overlooking the ocean on the island of Abaco.
The couple enjoyed cooking and fine dining, even starting a successful restaurant, the Gila Bar and Grill, in Palm Desert, Calif, with daughter Anne Cannon. That was Sam’s second restaurant, as he and a business partner had owned a restaurant in Danville years earlier.
In their most recent adventure, Sam and Jacque built a home on Spring Island, S.C., a nature conservancy where they spent many joy-filled hours perfecting their oil painting skills, shooting targets at the clay range and enjoying good food, occasional chocolates and, most of all, each other’s company.
The day Sam passed Jacque, Anne and Steve were by his side. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, William “Bill” Cannon. He is survived by his beloved Jacque; his son, Steve (Lisa) Cannon, Tenn.; his daughter, Anne (Chuck Miller) Cannon, Nev.; his grandson, Joshua Cannon, Calif.; brother-in-law, Chris (Robin) Kaler, Ill.; nieces, Zoë Kaler, Ill.; and Emily Kaler, Colo.; sister-in-law, Kathy Kaler, Ill.; brother-in-law, Patrick Kaler, N.Y.; brother Bill’s wife, Debra Cannon, Ill.; niece Alicia (Timothy) Mullen, Fla.; nephew John (Rebecca) Cannon, Maine; niece Elizabeth (Don) Shirley, Fla.; nephew William Cannon, Fla. And many grand nieces and nephews.
Sam was a great dad, husband, grandpa, uncle and friend. Sam’s friends and extended family describe him as gracious, positive, engaging, interested in people, generous, kind, witty, fun and easy to be with. They say he was a savvy businessman who seemed capable of “looking around the corner” of problems to identify solutions that others couldn’t see. He was an everyman, a servant leader who contributed his vast knowledge and many talents to make a positive impact on everyone he met.
To celebrate and remember Sam’s amazing life, the family will have a private family memorial, and then Jacque will visit their cherished friends and family who live all across the country. Memorial contributions may be made to Bonefish and Tarpon Trust https://www.bonefishtarpontrust.org/donate/.
Anderson Funeral Home, Beaufort, SC https://www.andersonfhsc.com/
