Eva Lorene Cannon was an unusual combination of small-town girl and world traveler.
“She went to all 50 states, and I think seven or eight foreign countries,” said her daughter, Susan DeClue of Crystal City. “She went to a number of Middle East countries, she went to China, she went to New Zealand. Her favorite was Switzerland.”
Mrs. Cannon died Aug. 24 at age 88, not five miles from the house where she grew up, in the community where she had “tons” of lifelong friends, her daughter said.
Susan, 56, a retired teacher, said her mother enjoyed an almost ideal early life.
“She grew up on a farm in Hematite, and she went to the Bailey School there,” Susan said. “She always loved going to the reunions they had.”
When Mrs. Cannon, then little Eva Lorene Smith, was about 10, her parents left the farm and bought a large brick house on Adams Street in Festus.
“Her parents ran a boardinghouse there,” her daughter said. “My grandpa worked at PPG, and they had a lot of the workers stay there. My grandma cooked for them.”
In her teens, Mrs. Cannon got a job as an operator at the Southwestern Bell office just down the block. She worked for the company until her retirement.
She married Mel Clifton, and the two bought a small house just behind her parents’ boardinghouse.
“As soon as my brother was born, my dad left for three years (for military service in World War II),” Susan said. “My sister was born nine months after the war.
“Like all the servicemen, he wanted to build a new house, and they did – right there on Ozark Drive in Crystal City.”
Susan herself came along in 1957, and the Cliftons were divorced when she was young.
Mrs. Cannon spent some time working for Southwestern Bell in Arizona, and was married for about five years to Salvatore “Nubby” Pusateri, from whom she was also divorced.
Single again in the 1980s, Mrs. Cannon got into traveling in earnest.
“She did not graduate from high school, but she was a lifelong learner,” Susan said of her mother. “She was very well-read; she liked to learn. She was very outgoing, and she liked meeting people, learning about other cultures and other lifestyles.”
When her granddaughter, Susan’s daughter Kathryn DeClue, graduated from Crystal City High as valedictorian, Mrs. Cannon rewarded her with a cruise to Alaska. “They had a blast,” Susan said.
Taking a walk one day, Mrs. Cannon met a nice gentleman on a Crystal City street.
“He was visiting his sister, and he and my mom actually met in an alley and struck up a conversation,” Susan said with a laugh. After a whirlwind courtship, Clarence “Buda” Cannon and Susan’s mother were married.
“They were just so in love – it was disgusting,” Susan said with a laugh. “But really, they had a wonderful relationship. They were married about five years, until he died almost 20 years ago.”
On her own yet again, Mrs. Cannon continued to be active in a number of community organizations.
“She was very active at Hematite Christian Church, and she did a lot of things with the Red Hat (Society) ladies,” Susan said. “She was also in the Women’s Auxiliary of the VFW. She really enjoyed selling the poppies.”
She was also politically active, although in a low-key manner.
“She was very patriotic, a loyal Democrat,” her daughter said. “She was always involved in local politics , including serving on the Democratic committee. She was definitely Democrat all the way. I don’t think she ever voted for a Republican.”
She also was active with the Eastern Star, a longtime member and past Worthy Matron of the local chapter.
Mrs. Cannon was never shy about having a good time, and helping those around her enjoy themselves as well.
“She threw herself a gigantic 80th birthday party at the VFW,” Susan said. “She loved Mexican food, so she had it catered. The whole place was packed.
“She hired the Second Generation Swing Band, and all these old people just boogied. It was hilarious.”
Shortly after that, Mrs. Cannon contracted shingles, and her health headed into a long downward spiral. She went to live at a residential care facility, then into the skilled nursing center at Crystal Oaks.
“It was one thing after the other,” Susan said. “She had macular degeneration, and she was totally blind at the end.”
But Susan said her mother never lost the joie de vivre that was her trademark.
“She was fortunate; she had so many friends, of all different ages,” Susan said. “I don’t think I ever had that many friends!
“And they were all very active. I think it was part of that generation; those women who went through World War II. Man, they knew how to have fun.”
And they knew when it was time to buckle down, too. Susan said her mother was instrumental in forming the work ethic she, her brother, Tom, and her late sister, Karen, all shared.
“We got it from both our parents,” she said “It’s that attitude that says, ‘You get up, and you go to work or to school. You don’t make excuses; you get up and you do.’”
Susan said her mother viewed her family as her greatest accomplishment.
“She was very proud of her family,” Susan said. “All her kids went to college. My brother is a minister, my sister was a teacher, I am a teacher.
“And her friends were very important to her. I think she would like to be remembered for being a good friend to many people.”
“Life Story,” posted each Saturday on Leader Publications’ website, focuses on one individual’s impact on his or her community.