REFERENCE TITLE: Robert Cannell; death resolution

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-fifth Legislature

First Regular Session

2021

HR 2011

Introduced by

Representative Fernandez

A RESOLUTION

on the death of the honorable dr. robert clark cannell.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Dr. Robert Clark Cannell, a dedicated health care professional and public servant, passed away on November 17, 2020 in Yuma, Arizona at the age of seventy-eight.

Robert was born on August 12, 1942 in Natick, Massachusetts to Frank Walker and Mary Louise Cannell. His sister Rebecca Stratton Browne preceded him in death.

Robert Cannell did his undergraduate studies at the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Colorado in Boulder, before graduating from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1967. He did a year of residency in Seattle, Washington from 1968-1969.

Robert came to Yuma as a Navy General Medical Officer, serving at the Marine Corps Air Station Dispensary. After completing his pediatric residency in Tucson, he returned to Yuma in 1972 and started Yuma Pediatrics, Ltd., a general pediatric group practice that continues to care for Yuma's pediatric patients. In 1996, Dr. Cannell became Medical Director of the Yuma Regional Medical Center School Health Program, which provides medical care to elementary school children and their younger siblings in Yuma and east Yuma County. He also spent several years as the Medical Director of Yuma Children's Rehabilitative Services. In 1999, he received the honor of being named Yuma's Citizen of the Year.

Dr. Cannell took a break from the School Health Program to serve in the Arizona State Legislature from 2000 to 2006, serving in both in the House of Representatives and the Senate. While there, he served as cochairman of the Children's Caucus, a group of state legislators that advocated for children in legislation and budget negotiations. He served on the Health Committees in both the House of Representatives and Senate, including as ranking minority member of the Health Committee in the House. Dr. Cannell was chosen to be a member of a group of Arizonans who accompanied Governor Hull to Washington, D.C. to encourage T-Gen to locate in Arizona.

In June 2020, Dr. Robert Cannell retired from an incredible half century of service as Yuma's first full-time pediatrician. His decades of committed and selfless service to the citizens of Yuma as both a health professional and elected official earned him the admiration and respect of all who had the pleasure of knowing him over the years.

Dr. Robert Cannell is survived by his wife, Leslie, his daughter Catherine and his sons Jonathon and Christopher and their spouses, and his eight grandchildren. He will be greatly missed by his family, his many friends and colleagues and the citizens of the Yuma community.

Therefore

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona:

That the Members of the House of Representatives honor the life and legacy of the Honorable Dr. Robert Clark Cannell and express their deepest sympathies to his surviving family members.