Richard Willis Cannan
courtesy photo
Richard Willis Cannan
RONAN — Richard Willis Cannan passed away Oct. 26, 2020 at the Mountain View Care Center in Ronan. Richard was born on Feb. 23, 1936, in New York to Robert and Annette Cannan. When he was four years old, he and his mother moved to Key West, Florida, where he discovered his love of water. He graduated Sentinel High School in Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale where he was captain of the swim team. Later he graduated from Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida.
Richard led a rich and varied life. He served in the Navy during the Korean War. After his discharge, he taught English in a military school. He lived and worked in Hawaii, California and Colorado and finally settled in Polson, in the 80s. He worked for Lake County for fifteen years drawing maps of the county and developed good friends among his co-workers. In 1990 he married Jackie Ladner and they moved into a log cabin right in the middle of town.
Richard loved Montana. It allowed him to pursue his passions which included cross country skiing. He spend every winter weekend on skis and enjoyed skiing the hut-to-hut trails in the Washington state Cascade Mountains and twice skied into Skokie Lodge in Canada.
He also delighted in whitewater canoeing and ran most of the rivers in western Montana in his solo canoe. The Middle Fork of the Flathead River was a particular favorite as well as the Smith River, the Blackfoot, the Buffalo Rapids just outside Polson, and many other sources of moving water in the area.
Mountain biking was another passion of Richard’s. From the Going-to-the-Sun road in Glacier Park to Moab, Utah, he took his mountain bike with him wherever he went. While in Hawaii, Rich completely a 100-mile course.
While most of his activities took place north of Polson, when he joined a hiking group based in the south, he was introduced to the challenge and beauty of the Missions to the east and the rolling hills to the west. Hiking provided another opportunity to make new friends and experience good times.
Camping was another love. From Florida to the Oregon Coast, Rich travelled and explored in his pickup camper. Richard relished the great outdoors and had “toys” for every season. In all his adventures, he was joined by his wife and companion, Jackie.
Richard was kind, compassionate to others. He never missed a chance to do something special for his many friends both past and current. A birthday or special occasion was never forgotten and was celebrated with a thoughtfully chosen gift or a carefully planned meal.
Richard was a passionate Democrat and could be counted on to help with every party activity. If it was necessary to set up for a function, Richard would be the first to volunteer and he stayed to clean up afterwards. He was a great asset to the Lake County Democrats.
Rich will be greatly missed.
Presently, no services are planned.
