The Rev. Peter Cannon, a downtown developer and Midlands evangelical leader, was remembered Monday as a “quiet, behind-the-scenes giant” for his visionary approach to revitalizing downtown Columbia and his devotion to Christian faith projects.
Cannon, who was diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer about five weeks ago, died Friday at Emory University Hospital, a week after undergoing surgery, his son, Ronnie Cannon, said. Cannon was 64.
Friends and associates described Cannon as a private man with wide-ranging passions, always overlaid with the concept of service to his fellow man.
Even as he worked on downtown development, he and his wife, Pat, founded HIS International Inc., a Christian ministry to international college students, which operates at USC and two other campuses.
“He was just involved in so many things,” said Hal Stevenson, a Columbia businessman and fellow evangelical who described his friend as a “quiet, behind the scenes giant. Everything was always done according to a humble spirit.”
A native of Connecticut and graduate of Georgetown University — where one of his across-the-hall dorm mates was future President Bill Clinton — Cannon came to Columbia several decades ago to work on an advanced degree at Columbia International University. He earned a master of divinity degree from the seminary and school of missions in 1982.
Cannon had become deeply religious and believed in linking his business credentials with his pastoral concern for others. He founded HIS International Inc. in 1991 to build a community for foreign students unfamiliar with American culture, assisting students in obtaining housing, food, medical care and driver’s licenses.
Matt Kennell learned to know Cannon through Cannon’s efforts to boost the economic fortunes of downtown Columbia.
“Starting about 10 years ago, he looked for a new way to promote downtown and bring new business downtown that had not been tried before,” recalled Kennell, president of City Center Partnership, which Cannon founded.
The nonprofit partnership is South Carolina’s only Business Improvement District, concentrating on commercial properties in the 36-block area bounded by Gervais, Elmwood, Assembly and Marion streets.
Kennell said there was little momentum for such a venture in January 2002, months after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. But in the eight years since, the district has borne fruit.
“Three new office towers, two new hotels, a couple of hundred new downtown residents — these were things Pete dreamed about,” Kennell said. “He used his pastoral qualities, his evangelical qualities to get people excited.”
Cannon was also active early on in the USC Columbia Technology Incubator, which aims to spawn new ventures and new entrepreneurs in the high tech arena.
“I describe him as a visionary,” said Bill Jones, president of Columbia International University, a private evangelical college in North Columbia. “He was high-tech and high-touch.”
While his downtown development business was his bread and butter, it was Cannon’s evangelical work that earned him accolades from his fellow Christians.
“More ministries were spawned or assisted by Pete and Pat than can be enumerated,” Joe and Gladys Grimaud, founders of Citylight Coalition, said in a statement. “And only the Heavenly Father could know how many are in heaven or will be there as a result of Pete’s life.”
The Grimauds worked closely with Cannon and other leaders to bring evangelist Tony Evans to Williams-Brice Stadium in 1997. Cannon went on to be involved in many other evangelical projects, including the National Day of Prayer events and Columbia prayer conferences.
Even as he coped with his cancer diagnosis and hoped for recovery, Jones, the CIU president, said Cannon kept his faith and family front and center.
“He told me he had made a list of dozens and dozens of things for which he was thankful and he was trying to review that list every day.”
Cannon is survived by his wife, Pat, three sons and 10 grandchildren.
A memorial service is set for 10:30 a.m. Sept. 11 at Northeast Presbyterian Church, where Cannon, an ordained Presbyterian minister, was a member.
E-Mail
Print
Get The State newspaper delivered to your home. 
