Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, February 25, 2009, at the United Methodist Church in Sumner. Friends may call from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at Becker-Milnes Funeral Home in Sumner and for one hour preceding services at the church on Wednesday. Burial will be at Wilson Grove Cemetery of rural Sumner with militry rites provided by Thomas E. Woods Post #223, American Legion of Sumner. Meorial donations may be made to the United Methodist Church of Sumner, Union United Methodist Church of Sumner, or a charity of the donor's choice.
Percy Dale Cannell
Percy Dale Cannell was born at Sumner in Fayette County, Iowa, on September 30, 1919, the son of Dorsrey Wano and Mamie Margaret (Fridley) Cannell. On May 23, 1920, he was baptized by Rev. F.W. Koenig at the Union Evangelical Church, rural Sumner, and as a youth joined the same church. In 1946, he transferred his membership to the First Methodist Church of Des Moines and served as chief usher for several years at the First Methodist Church in Western Springs, Illinois. He has been a member of the United Methodist Church in Sumner since November of 1987.
As a youth he attended grade school at Banks No. 7 and then graduated from Sumner High School with the class of 1936. He then was employed by the Fayette County Agricultural Conservation Association at Fayette and Hammel Food Store in Sumner for the next two years. While attending the American Institute of Business at Des Moines, Iowa, he was employed at Penn Switch Repair Company. On November 20, 1939, he accepted employment with Phillips Petroleum Company, with whom he was associated for the next 43 years until his retirement on January 31, 1983.
On September 16, 1941, he was drafted into the United States Army and was with the Arkansas National Guard (206 C A [AA] ) at Fort Meyers, Dutch Harbor and Unalaska, Alaska, at the time of the Japanese attack there on June 3rd and 4th, 1942. After being commissioned on September 16, 1943, he served at various training centers in the United States.
On June 14, 1944, he was united in marriage with Roberta M. Forsman at the United Brethren Church in Sumner by the Reverend David Thompson. She preceded him in death on May 26, 2007. On June 23, 1946, he was separated from active service and served with the United States Army Reserve for the next six years.
On July 1, 1946, he returned to employment with Phillips and later was Division Officer Manager at the Des Moines and Chicago Division Offices of Phillips. The Cannell’s moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in 1967. At the time of his retirement from Phillips, Dale was a Sales Division Administrative Assistant, serving as a Coordinator between the Sales and Computing Divisions. Percy Dale was a past member of Toastmasters; the Des Moines, Chicago and Tulsa Chapters of Administrative Management Society; Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Directors of the Camp Fire Girls’ Salt Creek Council at LaGrange, Illinois. At the time of his death, which occurred on Wednesday, February 18, 2009, he was a member of the United Methodist Church; Rotary; Frank Phillips Men’s Club; Meadowbrook Country Club; American Legion; Sumner Futures, Inc; and the Founders’ Society of University Lake School, Heartland, Wisconsin.
Mr. and Mrs. Cannell were very active as members of the First Methodist Church at Des Moines, Western Springs and Bartlesville. Dale underwent an operation for the removal of a blood clot from his brain a month and a half after retirement. For sometime thereafter he was in failing health; but, for the past several years, his health had improved considerably.
He is survived by a daughter, Catherine Jane, and her husband, John B. Snyder II of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin; one grandson, John B. Snyder III of Columbia, Maryland; one brother, Lowell D. and wife, Kathy Cannell of Sumner; and two sisters, Zinita L, Mrs. Frank Kirchhoff of Oelwein, and Alberta L. Kirchhoff of Sumner.
In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by a stillborn daughter, Susan Jean; his parents; two brothers, Vaylard R. and Forrest D.; and a sister, Olive M. Bassett.
