Richard G. Canning

Richard Canning Obituary

Richard (Dick) G. Canning, 91 CARLSBAD - Dick Canning quietly slipped into a coma while fully engrossed in watching Monday Night Football. He then waited for his youngest daughter, Susan, to arrive the next day before joining his wife, Peggy, in the hereafter on Tuesday, September 21, 2010. He was born in December, 1918, in Seattle, Wash., to Achille B. and Lucile M. Canning. His sister, Patricia, was born four years later. At the University of Cincinnati, he graduated with a BA in Math in 1940 and belonged to the SAE social fraternity and the Omicron Delta Kappa honorary fraternity. In 1941, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and served in WWII in India and China as a member of the 20th Bomber Command, flying in B-29s, as a squadron radar officer and then as Bomber Command radar maintenance officer. While stationed in Tucson, Arizona in 1942, he went to a dance hosted by a women's social committee from the nearby University of Arizona. At the dance, as two young women passed by, he noticed the pin one was wearing on her sweater and said, "Oh, so you're a Kappa." His mother had been in the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority, so the Kappa key pin was familiar to him. Who would have guessed that this 'one line' would lead to a 66-year marriage to Peggy Hardy Canning (who died New Years Eve 2009); four children, Barbara McNurlin, Art Canning, Nancy Canning and Susan Schebler; three grandchildren, Tracia Barbieri, Jeff McNurlin, and Benjamin Canning; and two great-grandchildren, Ashlyn and Kian Barbieri. In 1945, Dick left the military and joined IBM in Endicott, NY. He moved his family away from the East Coast winters in 1950 to live in the year-round sun of southern California. In 1952, he taught one of the first courses at UCLA on the use of computers. In 1954, he and a partner formed one of the first West Coast computer consulting firms to businesses. In 1959, the family moved to Vista, Calif., where he and Peggy soon formed Canning Publications. The company published the EDP Analyzer, a monthly newsletter in the computer field with subscribers in over 100 countries. They retired in 1987 after 24 years of working together. Dick also wrote five books on computing from 1956 to 1980, which were translated into numerous foreign languages. Dick was a life-long golfer and in 1973 was a founding member of Vista Valley Country Club (www.vistavalley.com); (760) 758-2800), where he played golf every Wednesday and Saturday. A casual Celebration of Dick's Life will be held there on Wednesday, September 29, beginning at 1:30 p.m. All are welcome. Sign the Guest Book online obits.nctimes.com

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by North County Times on Sep. 26, 2010.

Memories and Condolences
for Richard Canning

3 Entries

Douglas Barbieri

September 26, 2010

What an amazing life this man has led, and what a fantastic legacy he left behind. I was always impressed with how tech-savy he was and how he adapted to new technology even up until the end--he set up his own LAN and desktop Windows systems for himself and Peg at home, for example. Small wonder considering the EDP Analyzer and the numerous books he wrote on the subject of computing!

He was a terrific golfer and more importantly, very understanding to those who barely play (for example, to me and my wife, his granddaughter Tracia). At his pitch-and-putt he would throw my ball back to me and say, "now, let's try that again" after I missed an easy shot. :-)

His and Peg's health was so good that they got to know their great grandchildren and watched them grow. Always sharp as a tack, he was a really great guy to have a conversation with and he always made me feel welcome.

I admire the way he went--totally engrossed in the game. Barbara told me he got so into the game that he forgot where he was. He will be missed.

Doug Barbieri