After a joyous 102-year life full of adventures, Kevin William Gannon has embarked on yet another journey. On June 12, 2024, he set off to join his creator and reunite with loved ones.
Kevin was born on May 25, 1922 in Maumee, Ohio, the beloved son of the late Kevin Augustin Gannon and Olive Zeller Gannon.
After graduating from Maumee High School, Kevin attended the University of Toledo until the United States entered World War 2. He served his country in the U.S. Coast Guard on the USCGC Haida and the USS W.P. Richardson.
After the war, Kevin returned to Maumee. On the day he met the love of his life Doris (Dorrie) Katherine Jones, he told her he was going to marry her. And he did. They shared a wonderful life of love, travel, and laughter for nearly 70 years.
Kevin directed an occupational work experience program at Whitmer High School for many years, helping young people find their way in the world. He favored underdogs, late bloomers, and those needing a second chance.
In retirement, Kevin and Dorrie lived in Florida for 25 years before moving to the Carolinas to be closer to their children. Kevin began playing golf as a child and golfed regularly for over 90 years, sinking more than a dozen holes in one.
While Kevin will be well remembered for his wry wit, natural charm, and loving heart, he may be most fondly cherished for his deft gift of language. Kevin easily found the right words to comfort, counsel, or compliment. In the Irish tradition of a seanchaí or storyteller, he could make us laugh out loud or choke back tears - often within the same sentence.
Kevin was predeceased by his adored wife Dorrie, his beloved grandchildren John Gannon Ammons and Erin Gannon Burns, his only sibling Evelyn Gannon Sullivan, and his good lapcat Harley.
Left to cherish his memory are his children Tara (Ron) Burns, Lynne (John) Ammons, Kevin (Elizabeth) Gannon, and Leigh (Gary) Gannon; grandchildren Patrick (Kacie) Burns, Meghan (Peter) Wright and their daughter Scarlet, Julie Gannon, and Kelly Gannon; and great grandchildren Gannon Ammons and Avalyn Ammons and their mother Cassie West.
The family would like to thank his dear friends John and Nancy Hendee as well as his caregiving team of Lisa Thompson and Barbara Fisher.
Wherever our Kevin now happily roams - along a five-par fairway, beside that boyhood river, through an autumn cornfield - he is safe in the care of our Lord and he carries with him, like a pocketed buckeye, our deep and eternal love.
Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.
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