Louise Walker McCannel

McCannel, Louise Walker 96, died peacefully June 4, surrounded by family, at Walker Methodist Care Suites in Edina. Born in Minneapolis, daughter of Archie Walker Sr. and Bertha (Hudson) Walker, granddaughter of Thomas Barlow Walker and Harriet Grainger Walker. Following her grandparents' example, her life was entwined with, and devoted to, the growth of artistic, civic, and social justice institutions in Minneapolis. She attended Smith College, the Sorbonne, l'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and the Minneapolis School of Art. Her artistic training equipped her to curate and catalogue TB Walker's art collection, which became the nucleus of the Walker Art Center. Her collaboration with Dan Defenbacher, the first director of the Walker Art Center, led to marriage to him in 1939. Mrs. McCannel worked at the Art Center throughout its formative years. Even after her marriage ended in divorce in 1951, she continued to serve on the Art Center Board for 30 years. In 1952 she married Dr. Malcolm A. McCannel, who survives her. Throughout her life she was an advocate for the mental health movement and fought for equality for women. Beginning in 1957 she joined the fight against racial injustice. Mrs. McCannel championed the idea that racism was a problem of the white, or dominant community, and that that community needed to heal itself by confronting racism in its institutions, customs, and assumptions. She lived out her commitment to eliminating racism through participation in the Greater Minneapolis Interfaith Fair Housing Program, The Way, Opportunities Unlimited Inc., the Minneapolis Urban Coalition, the St. Paul Urban Parish, and the Minneapolis YWCA. Mrs. McCannel was a long-time officer of Lowry Hill Home Owners, which for 25 years resisted the construction of high-rises on a large vacant lot in the Kenwood neighborhood. She was also involved in the family timber business from an early age, advocating for "sustained yield forestry", an ethic which she communicated to the next generations of timber owners. She served on family business boards, encouraged artists by collecting their works, and was an investor in a woman-owned business, Anita Beck Cards, and Reindeer Square. She was a committed organic gardener, skillful with a movie camera, a trained and talented singer who, into her 96th year, could sing in 3 languages and harmonize to almost any song. Her life drew to a close with her daughters singing to her the songs she taught them. Mrs. McCannel is survived by her daughters, Rev. Teri Motley, of Jaffrey New Hampshire, Dana McCannel, of Provincetown MA, Abby Walker-Worley of Richfield MN and Puerto Morelos, Mexico, and Laurie McCannel, of New York City and Richfield MN, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. There will be a service of celebration of Mrs. McCannel's life on June 23, at 2 PM, at the Lakewood Cemetery Chapel, with a reception to follow in the new building at Lakewood. Instead of flowers, the family encourages contributions to Walker Methodist Homes, the Minnesota Historical Society, or the Walker Art Center.