John F. ‘Jack’ Cannon, 89, Rapid City, died Wednesday Jan. 20, 2010 at Westhills Village Healthcare. Jack was born May 13, 1921 in Cranston, Rhode Island, the son of Frederick G. and Cathleen H. (Fisher) Cannon. He attended and played football, hockey and baseball at La Salle Academy in Providence and graduated from Rhode Island College of Education with a degree in education. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 1942 and served until February, 1946. He was married to Ruth T. Donahey on August 2, 1945 and she accompanied him to Air Corps assignments in Sioux City, IA and Harvard, NE. Following Jack’s discharge from the service, he launched a 40-year career in the newspaper profession as a circulation department trainee at the Hastings, (NE) Tribune, a Seaton Publishing Company property. In October 1946, Seaton moved the Cannons to Lead, SD where he became circulation manager and she became office manager of the Lead Daily Call and the Deadwood Pioneer-Times. Jack subsequently became sports editor, staff writer and then managing editor of the two papers. In June 1953, Cannon joined the staff of the Rapid City Journal as a staff writer. He was named Sunday Editor in 1955, Associate Editor in 1966 and Editorial Page Editor in 1973. He retired in 1986. Cannon was named 1980 Newsman of the Year for South Dakota by the Associated Press Newspaper Association. The award recognizes excellence in the newspaper profession and service to the community. One of his major contributions to community service was in the field of health care in a lay capacity. He served as a member and president of the Lay Advisory Board of St. John’s McNamara Hospital and a member of its first lay board of directors. He was instrumental in effecting the merger of St. John’s and Bennett-Clarkson Memorial Hospital into Rapid City Regional Hospital with the objective of avoiding costly duplication and improving delivery of health care in the five-state region. More recently, he served on the hospital’s Community Development Council. Cannon was a founding member of the Black Hills Long Range Health Planning Council; served on the Health Resource Development Council of the South Dakota Department of Health and the University of South Dakota Health Sciences Advisory Council. He was a long-time board member of the West River Mental Health Center and its successor, Behavior Management Systems. Cannon’s community involvement ranged across a wide spectrum. He was an initial director of the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Foundation; director of the Deadwood and Rapid City Rotary Clubs and president of the latter; board member and president of United Way; Salvation Army Advisory Board member; director of the Rapid city Area chamber of Commerce; director of Arrowhead Country Club where he was an avid golfer; member of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America; American Legion, Elks Lodge and Rapid City Council 1187 of the Knights of Columbus which he served as Grand Knight and as Mardi Gras king. Cannon was often a master of ceremonies for community and statewide events. He emceed the Miss South Dakota Pageant at Hot Springs for 11 years. Jack had a long association with Ellsworth Air Force Base and was an honorary member of several units. He flew practice bombing, aerial refueling and airborne missile launch missions. He was one of the few civilian newsmen to fly a B-52 bombing mission over Vietnam while covering a 28th Bomb Wing deployment to the Southwest Pacific. He was a member of Blessed Sacrament Parish and sang with the 5:30 p.m., Saturday choir. He is survived by his wife Ruth Cannon, Rapid City.