Thomas Sidney "Tom" Cannon

Service for Thomas Sidney “Tom” Cannon, 91, of Cleburne will be conducted at 2:00 P.M., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016 at College Heights Baptist Church in Cleburne. The Reverend Charles E. Payne will officiate. Burial will be in Rosehill Cemetery. Visitation will be from 1-2:00 P.M., Saturday, at the church, prior to the service.
Tom Cannon passed away Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016 in Cleburne. He was born March 30, 1925 in Kopperl to William Edward, Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Gilbert Cannon. He married Vivian Beth Smith on Dec. 30, 1946 and she preceded him in death on March 25, 2012 after 67 years of marriage.
Mr. Cannon grew up on a family farm near Kopperl, joined the United States Army at age 18 and fought in WWII in the South Pacific where he received the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in ground combat in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. After returning home he went into the electric business and was an owner of Cleburne Electric in 1949. He owned and operated the business until retirement. Tom had a passion for hunting and aviation and obtained his pilot’s license. He was a member of the gospel group “The Messengers”. Tom was a long-standing member and Deacon at College Heights Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday school. He was a board member for the Kopperl Cemetery Association and Operation Blessing. Mr. Cannon was honored late in life with the publication of “American Courage and Honor: The Tom Cannon Story”, a collection of his WWII experiences.
Survivors include his daughter, Kim Pointer and husband Terry of Hewitt; daughter-in-law, Shelley Cannon; grandsons, Corey Cannon, Joshua Pointer and wife Xue “Snow”, Kyle Pointer and wife Janis and Farley Flowers and wife Tiana; great granddaughter, Ava Claire Flowers; three sisters-in-law, Gracie Cannon, Billie Jo Hudgins and Joan Smith; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was also preceded in death by his parents; son, Doug Cannon; two grandsons, Cullen Cannon and Jason Flowers; and eight siblings, Katherine Johnson, Willie Mae Hanna, Carroll Cannon, Alma Warren, Evelyn Rogers, David Cannon, Mary Sue Frey and James Henry Cannon.