This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 19, 2012 - Jamie Cannon, who parlayed a mild interest in buildings into an architectural career that he used to educate, advocate and lead on behalf of historical preservation throughout the St. Louis region, died of lung cancer Monday at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield. He was 85.
“Jamie had a broad view of architecture,” said his fellow architect and friend, George Nikolajevich. “He was very interested in architecture and in people.”
Mr. Cannon was undaunted by the encroachment of poor health. A cancerous tumor had lingered for four years and he recently had a couple of strokes.
“He slowed down this past year, but he was active to the end,” said his son, John.
His endurance could perhaps be understood by what Nikolajevich called Mr. Cannon’s “lightness of spirit in trying times.”
A memorial service will be Sat., Oct. 20, at Parkway United Church of Christ.
Citizen architect
Jamie Goodman Cannon was born Nov. 6, 1926, in Oklahoma City, Okla., the oldest of John Ernest Cannon and Margaret Cannon’s three children.
He was raised in small towns in Oklahoma and Wyoming before his school-teacher father took the family and fled from the Great Plains. Like thousands of Dust Bowl migrants before them, they settled in California. He found his new home in Long Beach less than welcoming to a self-described “Okie.”
He would later confide that the experience left him feeling “robbed of confidence and motivation to succeed.”
But succeed he did.
After entering two different colleges in California, he was drafted into the Army and spent four years in Korea, Okinawa and Officer Candidate School. He was 28 when his tour of duty ended. He decided that he did not want to become “a 40-year-old beach bum.”
He had done some drafting and liked it, so he headed to Washington University’s school of architecture because it didn’t have a foreign language requirement.
It proved to be a propitious move. While attending the university, he met his future wife, Jo Ann Cable, an alum who was working at the school.
He credited Washington University with helping him to find his footing and forever remained supportive of his alma mater. The university reciprocated with its Dean’s Medal in 1994 and the Award for Distinction in 2003.
After graduating in 1960, Mr. Cannon struck out on his own. He later worked for the Schwartz and Van Hoefen architectural firm, where he was project manager for a downtown plan for East St. Louis.
It set the stage for him to become the director of planning for East St. Louis, a decade into its rapid decline from its heyday as an All-American City.
He hired a summer intern named Esley Hamilton, now preservation historian with St. Louis County Parks and Recreation.
“He was very creative, very supportive of his staff and always tried to get the best out of them,” Hamilton said.
After hours, he often gave Hamilton a ride to his East St. Louis rooming house.
Mr. Cannon’s trademark humor came to the fore when he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2003 that Hamilton lived in an area so rough that when he dropped him off, “I just slowed down enough so he could get to the curb; I never stopped completely.”
Hamilton later remarked on the occasion of Mr. Cannon’s American Institute of Architects (AIA) Gold Medal awards ceremony in 2006: “I soon learned, however, that Jamie had made a much deeper commitment to the community than I had, spending many days and evenings with the citizens of the poorest of the poor neighborhoods, Rush City, to develop a realistic redevelopment plan for them.”
As a pro bono advocate, he led the successful fight to rezone the area from “industrial” back to “residential.”
Mr. Cannon’s career took off when he joined the renowned architectural firm of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, now known as HOK.
At age 58, when most people have an eye toward retirement, he left HOK to help found Gilmore, Malcic & Cannon. In 1988, he bought out his partners and the firm became Jamie Cannon and Associates.
His firm’s clients included national corporations such as Conoco, Inc., GTE and Nextel, and the old Deaconess Hospital, Mary Institute and Saint Louis University were among his regional clients. He took particular pride in the work he did for the Washington University Jeannette Goldfarb plant growth facility. He retired after selling the firm in 1996.
In 2009, Mr. Cannon was deemed a “citizen architect” by AIA for using his skills and talents to advocate on behalf of his community.
A strong voice
He served on commissions in Chesterfield, Town and Country, East St. Louis and Midland, Mich., where he was transferred for three years while working for HOK.
On loan from HOK, Mr. Cannon directed the "Challenge of the ‘70s" program that helped St. Louis garner more than $20 million in federal law enforcement grants. From 1987 to 1993, he participated in development plans for downtown and continued to help ensure that downtown did not become “irrelevant.”
“I am going to argue for the role of the architect as an important member of the team of prime movers needed to change downtown,” he wrote in a 1999 Post-Dispatch column. “Architects impact lives because we design the spaces and places that people love and enjoy.”
His advice, which he gave freely and unvarnished, was not always welcomed.
In a 2001 Post-Dispatch story, Mr. Cannon weighed in on the proposed Ballpark Village, a retail area that was to surround the new Busch Stadium.
"I think that if they build it, using the immortal words of Ross Perot, what you'll hear is a giant sucking sound coming from the rest of downtown," Mr. Cannon said.
Ballpark Village is still on the drawing board.
He was equally verbose about the things he liked. When the Kingshighway viaduct opened in 1994, some architects were said to be horrified by the bridge’s gaudiness.
"Oh, to hell with all of that," Mr. Cannon was quoted. "It may look like it was designed by a light-fixture salesman, but it's like a tacky wedding where you had a great time; I think it's a happy bridge.”
“He was a very strong leader,” said Fred Powers, who worked with Mr. Cannon at HOK. “Jamie was very quick to voice his opinion about what he thought was right and wrong.”
Even to his political party.
In 1998, the year he lost his bid for Town and Country third ward alderman, he called for the removal of Kenneth Starr, the special prosecutor in Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial.
In April 2004, the war in Iraq again caused him to break ranks. He wrote: “I've been a Republican all my life. My first presidential vote was for Thomas Dewey. I even voted for Barry Goldwater.
“Today, I can honestly say that I don't know who I will vote for in November, but it will be the hardest vote I've cast in my life.”
In the late '90s, Mr. Cannon became president of the board of Landmarks Association of St. Louis during a challenging restoration period. He was president of the St. Louis Chapter of AIA when he offered Valmeyer, Ill., washed away in the Flood of ’93, his rebuilding ideas. In 1998, he was awarded AIA's highest honor, membership in the College of Fellows.
Becoming an AIA fellow is a rigorous process, even when it’s symbolic. Mr. Cannon had helped John Guenther with his AIA submission; a few weeks ago, Guenther sought help with a friend’s honorary AIA membership.
“Jamie was a tremendous gentleman and an esteemed elder,” Guenther said. “He could easily have said ‘I really can’t help,’ but with Jamie, it was always ‘charge ahead.’”
Great panache
Mr. Cannon had been a member of Pilgrim Congregational Church for 30 years and later joined Parkway United Church of Christ Church. At both churches, “he served in nearly every lay capacity possible,” his son said.
“He did everything with great panache,” Guenther said, “and he was a very spiritual man; a good man to the core.”
Mr. Cannon was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Mary Helen Templeton.
In addition to his wife of 52 years and his son, John (Lori) Cannon, of Chesterfield; he is survived by his daughter, Nancy Cannon, of Maryland Heights, and another son, Dave (Doreen) Cannon; a sister and brother, Sally Boren and Bill Cannon, both of Long Beach, Calif., and five grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, October 19, at Schrader Funeral Home, 14960 Manchester Road, in Ballwin. Another visitation will be from 10:30 a.m. to the time of services at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 20, at Parkway United Church of Christ, 2841 North Ballas Road, St. Louis, Mo. 63131.
Memorials would be appreciated to the AIA Scholarship Fund, 911 Washington Avenue #100, St. Louis, Mo. 63101, or Parkway United Church of Christ at the address above.