THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 6, 1995 TAG: 9503040034
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Long : 114 lines
THE ``MONEY MAN'' of Richmond cares for his wife around the clock. He sleeps beside her in an old sleeping bag, near a wall decorated with oversized replicas of U.S. coins.
He sleeps lightly. His wife, Princetta, requires around-the-clock care. He may have to rise at 3 a.m. to hang a bag of glucose on a bedside pole and connect it to the tube in her stomach. Or bring her water.
He has cared for her continuously since her last stroke in January of 1994.
``She seems to be doing fine,'' Thomas Cannon said. ``She's not in pain or suffering. The doctor was here a couple of days ago. Her only problem is a slightly elevated blood pressure.''
Cannon, a retired Richmond postal employee doesn't own a car. He rides a bike - which he has named ``The Spirit'' - instead. The Cannons live in a small, 40-year-old frame house without central heating or air conditioning.
So why do they call him ``the money man''? The nickname isn't for his personal wealth - which is scant. It refers to his philanthropy - huge for a man of his means.
Since 1972 Cannon and his wife have given away more than $77,0000 to individuals and organizations they either knew of or read about in the Richmond newspapers. His wife always supported his decision to give the money to those in the community they felt deserved it. Sometimes the gift was to a person in need. More often it was to someone helping others. Usually it was a check for $1,000.
``We lived this lifestyle so we could give money away,'' he said. ``There were never any strings attached to the money. I've only had two checks returned.''
His first check was for $1,000, given to the Westhampton Junior Woman's Club for its efforts to enrich the lives of children at a black elementary school.
One recent check went to a seaman from Pakistan who was serving aboard a Greek ship. The seaman's pay was frozen when his ship was sold, and he had no way to support his wife and child.
Another check was sent to an 11-year-old working in a food service program for the needy.
People say Cannon, 69, is special for the way he looks at money. He denies it.
``I look at money the same way you do,'' he said. ``I value my money highly. If I didn't, I wouldn't give it away because it wouldn't do anyone any good.''
But some things are more important than money, he says. For instance?
``Intangible things like love and the spiritual values,'' he replied.
His philanthropy didn't spring from a family example. His father died when Cannon was 3 years old. His mother was destitute. They moved from Richmond to Chase City, Va., to live with his grandmother.
``We didn't even have funds to bury my father,'' he recalled. ``The undertaker buried him as an act of charity.''
The ``money man'' is a Hampton Institute graduate, who was educated on the GI Bill after serving as a Navy signalman in World War II.
``I was educated as a teacher but dropped out of it because I wasn't happy with it,'' he explained. But he believes the philanthropy somehow sprang from biographies he read in college of spiritual leaders like Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King, Helen Keller and Mother Teresa.
But he is not religious in the conventional sense. ``I think of myself as a renegade Baptist,'' he said. ``I haven't belonged to a church since I was a child and forced to go. I guess my religion is a combination of the Eastern and Western traditions combined.''
The blanket covering his wife resembles a high-denomination bill and even the clock has a money face.
``They are just decorations,'' he said. ``I also have a T-shirt with a dollar bill on it. My not having any money myself is part of the humor, you see.''
Humor is a refuge for Cannon. It allows him to escape from the confining world of his home where he provides for his wife's needs - bathing her, checking her insulin level, giving her eye drops.
``Looking after my wife is just another part of philanthropy, which is simply care-giving,'' he said. ``Some years ago I said to myself that I'd never experienced caring for a sick person and probably needed that. I thought about volunteering to help in a hospital.
``I never dreamed it would be thrust upon me the way that it was. You know that line from a song that goes `Lord, I have climbed many hills, but this time you gave me a mountain'?
``But it's something I want to do,'' he added.
His humor surfaces often. He chuckled in recalling that one of the two returned checks was given to a millionaire.
Who was that?
``The gentleman's name is Sidney Lewis. He is noted for his charitable works across the state,'' Cannon said. ``God knows how much money he has given to the Richmond Museum of Fine Arts.''
Why a millionaire?
``I knew he didn't need it. I just didn't think we should discriminate against the rich,'' he replied. ``The gifts we send are a form of recognition.''
Cannon's philanthropy attracted the attention of Betty Booker, a reporter and columnist for The Richmond Times-Dispatch who has written several articles about him.
Booker says many feel Cannon now needs a little help himself, although he doesn't care to discuss it.
``He is sleep-deprived and weary,'' she said. ``And his wife really needs professional nursing care.''
Feeling that others may want to give Cannon a few dollars to help him over this rough time, East-West Foundation, a Midloathian charity, has begun a fund for the Cannons.
Contributions can be made payable to the Thomas Cannon Benefit Fund, First County Bank of Chesterfield, 10400 Hull Street Road, Midlothian, Va. 23112. ILLUSTRATION: Associated Press color photo
Thomas Cannon...
KEYWORDS: CHARITY PHILANTHROPY by CNB