FRANCES MARY (CARD) CANNON
DEXTER, ME & SOMERVILLE, MASS – Frances Mary (Card) Cannon, 90, died quietly April 1, 2004 at a Dover-Foxcroft, Maine hospital. She was the beloved wife of the late James “Jim” M. Cannon and a loving mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Frances was born in Somerville, Massachusetts on August 25, 1913, the daughter of the late Louise (Bridgham) Card and Jacob Gray Card. She graduated from Somerville High School and attended Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts. Latin, German, and mathematics were her specialties; and all of her daughters relied on her for help with homework. Her eldest daughter, Louise Lazare, says her mother is the only reason she comprehended high school algebra. Frances was an avid reader, bridge and cribbage player, crossword puzzler, and a skilled seamstress, creating clothes and dolls for her children and grandchildren. The grandchildren particularly recall her as a great cook, making what is without question, the world’s best apple pie. She was a member of Maine Public Radio and a supporter of the Arcady Concerts and a devout communicant of the Episcopal Church. On Jim’s retirement, Frances and Jim moved to Dexter, Maine to the family home built in 1872 for her grandparents, Levi and Frances Bridgham.

Frances is survived by her daughter, Louise and husband Aaron Lazare of Waban, Massachusetts, daughters Janet and Patricia of Dexter, son-in-law Alan Preston of Greenville, Maine; two sisters-in-law, Marion H. Card of Gloucester, Massachusetts and Madeline Card of Milton, New York. She also leaves eleven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. In addition to her husband and parents, she was predeceased, by her daughters, Jacqueline Mary Cannon and Virginia Mary Preston, her granddaughter, Jacqueline Frances Lazare-Dunne; and her three brothers Robert, Thomas, and James Card. Frances will be missed by many longtime friends including Barbara Butterfass and Patricia Loughery of St. Albans, Maine. Despite her failing health, she was very happy to be able to remain living in her own home with her daughter, Pat, and with the help of her caregiver and friend, Therese Scesny of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine; and the companionship of her five cats.

Memorial services will be held on April 21, 2004 at 11am at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine with refreshments to follow in the undercroft. Burial will be at 2pm that day in the family lot at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Dexter. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Virginia Cannon Preston Fund for the Arts, c/o Foxcroft Academy, Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426. Arrangements by Crosby & Neal Funeral Home, Dexter.