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Loss in the W&L Family: Darrold A. Cannan Jr.

When Darrold A. Cannan Jr. died Sunday, Washington and Lee lost a loyal alumnus and Texas broadcasting lost a pioneer. Cannan went directly from his graduation at W&L in 1953 into broadcasting, joining his father at KDFX-TV in Wichita Falls, Texas. That station had gone on the air only months earlier. As the obituary in the Times Record News in Wichita Falls reported, Darrold spent two years in the Army before rejoining KFDX-TV until its sale in 1971. Later he would purchase an Amarillo station, KAMR-TV, and would put a station on the air in Austin, KBVO-TV. His support for W&L included an endowment for campus preservation, which was created in 1995 to help the University maintain its National Historic Landmark buildings and to support the beautification efforts, and the establishment of the Cannan Term Professorship. Cannan Green, the space between Elrod Commons and Doremus Gymnasium, is named in recognition of the support of Darrold and his wife, Kay. The Cannans generosity to Washington and Lee was celebrated in May 2008 with their inclusion on the University’s Honored Benefactors Wall. You can sign an on-line guest book or send tributes through Lunn’s Colonial Funeral Home.A memorial service was held on Tuesday (July 21)  in Wichita Falls.