Ardes Christena Westlund Cannon

Ardes Christena Westlund Cannon
February 16, 1931 – January 22, 2022
Ardes Christena Westlund Cannon passed away peacefully on January 22, 2022, at Red Cliffs Health and Rehab in St. George, Utah, surrounded by her loving family.
Ardes is survived by three sons; George Q., IV (Jean), of Mesquite, Nevada, David (Anita), of Washington DC, and Jim (Suzy) of St. George, Utah; two daughters, Jan (Jerry) Jones of St George, Utah, and Juli (Scott) Schierman of Casper, Wyoming; sixteen grandchildren; thirty great grandchildren, and her brothers; Lloyd Westlund and LeRoy Westlund, both of Centerfield, Utah.
She was predeceased by her husband of 68 years, George, who passed away in December 2021. She is also predeceased by four brothers; Marlowe, Nolan, Dean and Roger Lear Westlund and a sister; Zella Elston.
Ardes was born on February 16, 1931, in Centerfield, Utah to Carl Alfred Westlund and Elodie Sorensen Westlund. She graduated from Gunnison Valley High School in 1949. Soon after, she moved to Salt Lake City where she attended LDS Business College and worked for Beneficial Life Insurance Company.
She met her future husband George Q Cannon, III at a Church dance during a Hawaiian vacation. It was love at first sight. Ardes indefinitely postponed her return to Salt Lake and nine months later, on December 4, 1953, the two were married in the LDS Hawaii Temple.
Ardes spent a fulfilling 17 years in Hawaii. She raised her five young children there, helped run the family pony farm and worked as an executive secretary for the New York Life Insurance Company. She always found time to volunteer at her children’s schools and served in many LDS auxiliary organizations at both the Ward and Stake level. She relished the close friendships she developed with Hawaiian Polynesian Church members.
In 1970 after the Cannon family pulled up stakes and moved from Hawaii to St George, Utah, Ardes worked as a secretary for the St George Chamber of Commerce and the J&J Mill and Lumber Company and actively served in the St. George LDS Church. The calling that brought her great joy was the time she spent serving in the temple. She also devoted seven years to painstakingly building a new home for her family. A talented interior decorator and LDS history enthusiast, she painstakingly restored the original woodwork, refurbished antique furniture, and redecorated rooms big and small, with an eye to capturing the original elegance of the crumbling 100-year-old pioneer house, the former Miles-Judd house. The Cannon residence would become popularly known as the Green Gate Manor and would earn inclusion in the Utah State Historical Registry.
Ardes was passionate about family history and genealogy. She compiled six volumes documenting her and her husband’s family. Her records were beautifully constructed and meticulously researched. They have been registered at several historical archives and are treasured by her family and extended kin.
Most of all, she will be remembered for what gave her greatest joy; being a wonderfully loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
There will be a viewing Saturday, January 29, 2022, 9:30 – 10:30 am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 166 South Main Street, St. George, Utah.
The Funeral Service will be Saturday, January 29, 2022, 11:00 am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 166 South Main Street, St. George, Utah.
Family and friends that are unable to attend are invited to view the services online by clicking on the link below.
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCOSzceAPMotvDnfg_FW6ZPg/live
Interment will be Saturday, January 29, 2022, 12:00 pm in the St. George Cemetery, 650 E Tabernacle Street, St. George, Utah.
Arrangements are made under the direction of Spilsbury Mortuary, 110 S Bluff Street, St. George, Utah. 435-673-2454. Family and friends are invited to sign Ardes’s online guest book at www.spilsburymortuary.com