Carole Anne Cannon

After a lifetime defined by a deep commitment to her family and faith, and to the education of generations of students, Carole Anne Erickson Cannon, 88, died Saturday, May 9, 2026 in Sandy, Utah.

Born in St. Anthony, Idaho, on Nov. 11, 1937, Carole was the youngest child of Lawrence Edward and Gladys Greene Erickson. Her father’s career as the manager of JCPenny took the family from St. Anthony to Price, Utah, and then to Idaho Falls, Idaho, where Carole graduated from high school.

Carole attended the University of Utah, where she was a member of the Alpha Phi Sorority, and received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and music and a master’s degree in educational psychology and special education. She also held administration, counseling, early childhood, special education, and resource educational certifications.

In her early career, she taught at Larkfield Elementary School in Long Island, New York; on the Uintah and Ouray reservation near Vernal, Utah; and at Wasatch Elementary in the Salt Lake School District, maintaining contact with many students for decades.

She married Harmon Sowards Cannon on June 11, 1962, in the Idaho Falls Temple. They are the parents of five children: Harmon Eric Cannon, Alyssa Anne Cannon Seager, Jonathan Truitt Cannon, Sarah Jane Cannon Weaver and Hyrum Lawrence Cannon.

After living in Canyon Rim and Ogden, Utah, Harmon and Carole raised their family in Holladay, Utah.

As a mother, Carole spent hours reading to her children and insisting they take piano lessons and learn other instruments. She found the best music teachers and creatively worked the family budget so her children could have private lessons and new instruments. She enjoyed Sunday afternoon drives, hosting regular Sunday dinners (usually on fine china) and watching her husband and children play tennis. She loved animals and made space in her home for many pets — dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters and numerous fish and reptiles.

Carole’s compassion included caring for her own mother in her home and involving her children in the care of other family members.

She encouraged frequent fishing and hunting trips for her husband and sons and planned annual family vacations to Fish Lake, Bear Lake, Island Park and ultimately Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the family spent every July 4^th holiday weekend for decades in the shadow of the Teton Mountains and in Yellowstone National Park. She and Harmon filled their home with artwork of the mountains and wildlife they loved and taught their children to love.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she served as a ward and stake Primary president and in many other capacities, and supported her husband in his own service. Above all, Carole’s greatest calling was to minister to those around her, which she did until her final moments.

As her youngest children were entering junior high school, Carole returned to fulltime employment.

She worked as the principal of Oakridge Elementary, assistant principal at Wasatch Junior High, a counselor at Churchill Junior High and Eisenhower Junior High and a special education teacher at Westlake Junior High. She received many teaching awards, including the 1998 Excel Outstanding Educator award from the Granite Education Foundation, and 2002 to 2003 Innovator of the Year award from the Granite Association of Elementary School Principals. She also received recognitions as a fellow in the Utah Principals Academy and the Utah Association of Elementary School Principals.

After her retirement in 2004, Carole was elected to the Granite School Board of Education. Known for both her determination and tenacity, Carole lobbied for music programs in schools and worked to provide services for students with special needs.

She loved being a wife and was adored by Harmon, who rarely waited for a birthday or Christmas to give her the many gifts he bought for her. She welcomed her children’s spouses and their families into her own, finding her greatest joy in being a grandmother.

Before Harmon’s death on March 11, 2020, they served together as temple ordinance workers in the Salt Lake Temple and as missionaries with Salt Lake City’s urban and prison populations.

She is survived by her five children and their spouses: Kristine Davis Cannon, Shawn Seager, Paula Nielsen Cannon, Clinton Weaver and Tricia Rawstern Cannon; 18 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren; and her sister-in-law, Christine Cannon Bracy. She is preceded in death by her husband; brother, Lawrence E. Erickson Jr. and sister, Patricia Erickson Caine.

Her family expresses gratitude to The Grand Senior Living, where she spent her final years, and to the staffs at Aspen Ridge Home Health and Hospice and Sunrise Senior Living, who cared for her in her final months.

Funeral services will be held Friday, May 15, at 11 a.m. at the Holladay 27th Ward meetinghouse, 5450 S. Holladay Blvd., Holladay, Utah. Friends may call on the family on Thursday, May 14, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Larkin Sunset Lawn, 2350 East 1300 South in Salt Lake City or before funeral services from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. on May 15. Interment, Holladay Cemetery 4900 South Memory Lane, Holladay, Utah.

Those wishing to view the service via Zoom can click "Watch Service" or follow the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85076163860