John Redferne "Jack" Cannell
John Redferne "Jack" Cannell, loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather passed away peacefully after a brief illness and a day of family goodbyes late on October 16th.
Jack was born on April 3, 1937 to John and Thyra Cannell. He grew up in Wellesley, MA, spending summers in North Falmouth, where he developed a lifelong love of sailing and Buzzards Bay.
He attended the Fessenden School and Milton Academy (class of 1954, cum laude), before matriculating to Princeton University (class of 1958). At Princeton, he was a member of the Tiger Inn and 21 Club and Business Manager of the Princeton Tiger Magazine. He was a proud and active Princeton alum, attending all the reunions and serving as Alumni Class President and Class Secretary.
His senior year, he was selling subscriptions to the Princeton Tiger on the Vassar campus where he met the love of his life, Betty Ann May. Jack and Betty Ann were married for 66 years.
Following Princeton, Jack attended Columbia Law School (class of 1961), where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He practiced corporate finance law at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, becoming a partner in 1970, and retiring as a member of the firm in 1995.
Jack and Betty Ann settled in Montclair, NJ, where they were active in the community and raised their three sons, John Jr., Jim, and William. They threw fantastic parties, including their annual Christmas caroling party, where their guests went door to door singing to their neighbors.
They loved to travel and saw the world together as a family and with their close friends. Jack also enjoyed scuba diving, tennis, squash, and golf.
In 1981, Jack and Betty Ann moved to Singapore, where Jack headed the Simpson Thacher & Bartlett office. Jack looked back on their four years in Singapore as among the happiest of his life, enjoying adventures around Asia and a thriving expat community.
Jack and Betty Ann began spending their summers in Mattapoisett, MA in 1989, before eventually moving to Mattapoisett full-time.
Jack served on a number of non-profit boards, including the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation (Chair), Henry H. Kessler Foundation (Chair), and New Alternatives for Children. He was a member of the Montclair Golf Club, the University Club of New York, the Singapore Cricket Club, the Mattapoisett Casino, and the Bay Club in Mattapoisett.
Later in life, Jack enjoyed spending time with family, especially his grandchildren and great-granddaughter.
Jack is predeceased by his son, John Jr. He is survived by his wife, Betty Ann, sons: Jim (Joanella) and Will (Kathy), grandchildren: Josephine Barrington (Sam), Alex, John, Rix, and Margo Goldberg (Sinjon), and great-granddaughter Elizabeth.
A funeral service will be held on Thursday, October 22 at 11AM in St. Gabriel's Church, 124 Front Street, Marion, MA.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to New Alternatives for Children, 825 7th Ave, New York, NY 10019, nackidscan.org.
For online guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com
