Paul William (“Skip”) Cannon, a chemical engineer and longtime resident of Rochester, NY, died on December 23 at the age of 97. He is survived by his wife Joan Sergi Cannon, children John (Laurie) Cannon, Pamela (John) Pilgrim, Kristine (David) Penrose; grandchildren, John (Aileen) Pilgrim, Rachel (Casey) Hust, Claire (Nicholas) Burdett, Matthew Pilgrim, Maddison (Drew) Kucera, Nathan (Moriah) Cannon, Lindsay Penrose, Mitchell Pilgrim, Brian Cannon, and Brandon Penrose; great-grandchildren Eliza, Esther, and Royal Hust and Shiloh Burdett. He was predeceased by his son, Paul William (“Bill”) Cannon, and his sisters and brothers, Gerard, Mary, Gert, Alice, and Tom.

Paul was born on September 15, 1928, in Pittsburgh, PA, to Marie (Hartman) and James Cannon. After graduating from North Catholic High School, he was employed by Vitarelli Studio as a darkroom technician, and then Deacon Studio as a portrait photographer. He went back to school and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh as a Chemical Engineer in 1953, and moved to Rochester, NY to take a job with Eastman Kodak Company. He and Joan, a high school home economics teacher, were married on July 25 of that year, and over the following years they had 4 children. They were married for 72 years.

Paul was a devoted husband and father. He valued hard work, and he combined that with his enjoyment of gardening to teach his children to work in the family garden. He was employed by Kodak until his retirement in 1986, during which time he also served for 7 years on the Greece School Board as President of the Board. During retirement he did volunteer work, visiting the hospitalized and homebound from St. Charles Borromeo Church, and then teaching religious education classes to students from St. Lawrence Church.

After receiving a digital camera for his 75th birthday, he enjoyed taking portraits of the grandchildren. He also treated the entire family to a week-long Disney Cruise two times, in March 2003 and April 2008.

He will be remembered for his generosity and will be missed greatly by his friends and family.

Paul’s life story will be shared during his visitation on Friday, January 2nd from 3-7 PM at the Funeral Home, 1411 Vintage Lane. His Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Charles Borromeo Church, on Saturday, January 3rd at 11:30 AM. Interment will follow at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery on Lake Avenue.