Karen Livingston Cannon

Karen was born on April 13th 1938 in Salt Lake City, UT, the second of four children to Viola Pearl Neilson and Wendal Anderson Livington. She grew up in Holladay Utah near the family factory named Dutch Mill Products where they made mayonnaise and punch base to sell to local grocery stores.

Karen graduated from Olympus High School. She married Calvin Cannon (her high school sweetheart) on January 7th, 1958; shortly after Calvin returned from his mission. They had four children Cory (Brandy) Cannon, Kelly Condie, Kim (Ron) Brimley, and Katrina (Mike) Tuckfield.

With 11 grandchildren and 28 great grandchildren, she was surrounded by baby birds with mouths open wide. She was generous with her time and money to make sure they had what they needed. Karen worked for 3 decades at ZCMI. She made many friends helping ladies find that perfect dress or outfit. She was happiest when customers left the store happy. Her profession made her a keen-eye of the bargain. She taught her grandkids how to work the sales to find the perfect outfit at the best price. When ZCMI had sales, she would buy more than her paycheck would be for that week, getting things for her family. She created a tradition to focus on a grandchild and take them on what she called “adventure day.” The magic was they could end up anywhere, like a park or museum, and learn about the world. Often grandchildren would say the biggest adventure of the day was grandma’s driving. She was a favorite at the autobody shop.

There are two types of students: Those who sit on the back row and those who sit in the front. Karen was a front-row student. She graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor's degree in science, psychology. As a non-traditional student, she was the one other students asked for her class notes. She was always a key contributor in class.

She always supported her family in life and church and enjoyed teaching children about the gospel as a primary teacher. She loved people and was loving and kind to everyone. She always went out of her way to serve others.

Funeral services will be held graveside at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary on Thursday, November 13th at 1:00pm.

Arrangements under the direction of Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, Salt Lake City, UT.