Robert William Canning

Bob was born July 13, 1935, in Flushing, NY, to Bobbie & Robert Canning. As a young child, Bob was adorable & thus was doted on by his many Aunts & Uncles. As he grew, he became a handsome, athletic young man who secured a partial scholarship to play Lacrosse at Cortland College in NY. Once there, he discovered he possessed a caustic wit & an intelligence that allowed him to sail thru school without much studying. He could disassemble a car engine, put it back together & still have the smarts to do it all in the one weekend his parents left him alone. He followed no guidelines, read no manuals, he simply did it. He learned the value & excitement of work early in his life, when he caddied for Perry Como.

He quickly decided he’d have better employment options in the Army & signed up. He served in the Korean Conflict & he was assigned a post in Alaska. When he was released from the service, he went across the country to Maryland University.

Bob was always determined & rarely taking a break, he fulfilled his ambitious goals in the construction industry where he worked as a purchasing agent/controller throughout the Pacific NW, finishing with the large tunnel project for Metro in Portland. Bob was known as a wizard with money; he could rub two pennies together & come up with a nickel.

After living in Gold Beach & several small towns up & down the coast, he moved to Laurelhurst with his family into a beast of a bungalow on Davis. Bob had the ability, drive & ambition to fix up four stories of a run down house into a dream home for his family & it was a wonderful house to grow up in.

He lived in a home in a neighborhood he was passionate about, with the family he loved. He enjoyed living in Laurelhurst & collected fascinating books & literature on the area.

He did it again when after marrying Patricia, he took on their Tudor across from the Park they lived together. When not at work, he was home pounding nails & moving walls.

When he ‘retired’ Bob took his passion for garage sales to a new level. He loved it when one or more of his kids would go with him. He would scout the sales & bring home his finds for Patricia where it then became her job to find a place in their beautiful home for display.

Bob & Patricia were very early risers. They would walk the Park every morning when it was quiet & empty & only seemingly belonged to them. Like other successful long term marriages, they each blamed their happiness on the other. Patricia could match him, stroke for stroke. She was his yin to his yang.

Towards the end, when the cancer spread & wouldn’t retreat, Bob left this world reluctantly. Once he could no longer do the things in life that brought him so much pleasure, he bravely moved on to heaven. He said he was going on ahead so he had time to ready their home for when Patricia arrives.

When he left this world, Bob was surrounded by his wife & children, the Deacon had read the rosary & the harp had played & we’d all said Good-bye. It was beautiful.

Bob is survived by Patricia, his wife, of 36yrs. As well as his children; Cecelia Giese(Ken), Dianne Hebert(Bob), Mark Canning , Mary Pat D’Ambroso, Kelly Whatcott (Timothy), Sheila Dineen, Molly Wigg, Cassie Davenport(Jeff), Kevin Dineen, & Mathew Dineen, 18 grand children & 9 great grand children & his brother Kenneth Canning. Bob was preceded in death by Sean Timothy Dineen.

The funeral service will be held at 12:30, March 17, 2015, at Lincoln Memorial Home. Committal will follow at 2p at Willamette National Cemetery.