Margaret E. Cannon
Published 12:02 pm Saturday, February 1, 2014
MINERAL SPRINGS, N.C.—Margaret Elizabeth “ME” Cannon was born on Oct. 16, 1921, to Floyd and Maggie Stephenson of Berlin, Va., in a house her father had built in Ivor, Va. She was the youngest of seven children. She was educated in Ivor, lettering in basketball for four years during high school. ME continued her education at Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, Va., and at Pan American Business College in Richmond, Va.
During World War II, ME served as an airplane spotter while also working as the head bookkeeper at First Mortgage Corporation in Richmond. After the war, she served as the secretary to the supervisor for vocational agriculture (forestry) for Virginia.
In 1948 she returned to Ivor to live with her mother, and there she served as the secretary for the founder of Ruritan National. She was a member of Ivor Baptist Church, where she served as choir director and as a member of the choir. Her involvement in the community included her being a member of the Ivor Women’s Club, serving as a Girl Scout leader, performing in several local plays, and serving as the high school girls’ basketball and softball coach.
On Oct. 3, 1953, ME married Lemuel Cannon in Franklin, Va., and moved to Charlotte, N.C. Her first daughter, Sherry, was born the next year. Three months later, ME and Lemuel moved to Baltimore, Md. In 1956 the family moved to Richmond, and in 1957 they moved to Ivor where they lived with ME’s mother until she passed away in 1962.
In 1963 ME and Lemuel had their second child, Kebbie. Three months after Kebbie was born, the family moved back to Charlotte. The family lived on Windsor Drive where ME volunteered at the local schools.
In 1967 the family bought some property on Rea Road and operated a plant nursery. They named the property Strawberry Acres. They built a barn there for Sherry’s horse, and it was there that Kebbie began boarding horses. In 1979, their daughter Sherry married Alan Rouse. In 1980, ME and Lemuel built a house on the Rea Road property and moved from Windsor Drive to Strawberry Acres.
In 1982 their first grandchild, Melody, was born, and in 1984 their second, Laura. ME started volunteering for the CFIDS Association at this time.
In 1987 they moved farther out, buying property near Waxhaw, N.C., naming the property Strawberry Acres, Too! ME and Lemuel worked hard to get the property cleaned up, and built a barn on the property where Kebbie boarded horses. In 1991 they built another house at Strawberry Acres, Too, just like the one on Rea Road, and moved there.
In 1997 Lemuel passed away after a several-year decline from a 1993 heart attack. ME continued to live at the Strawberry Acres, Too! home until she passed away on Friday, Jan. 17, 2014.
She will always be known by her family and friends as a kind women who always brought out the best in others. ME was the last surviving sibling. She was preceded in death by her husband Lemuel, four sisters, two brothers, two nephews, one niece, and one great-nephew.
Survivors include two daughters, Kebbie Holden Cannon of Mineral Springs, N.C., and Sherry Cannon Rouse (Alan) of Lawrenceville, Ga.; two grandchildren, Melody Rouse Lee (Sherwin) of Acworth, Ga., and Laura Elizabeth (Rouse) Cotton (Nick) of Canton, Ga.; five great-grandchildren, Evelyn Cotton, Abigail Lee, Isaac Cotton, Micah Lee, Annabelle Cotton; six nieces; a nephew; and 10 great-nieces and great-nephews.
The memorial service was held in Charlotte on Jan. 22. For more information or giving a memorial in her name, go to the website: www.gaskinservices.com.