Obituary of James Noel Concannon

James Noel Concannon, born December 2, 1922; passed away Sunday January 12, 2014. James was born in Dayton, Ohio and was the youngest of five children. He married Marian Hagan, December 1, 1945 and had six children, Lawrence Anthony, Mary Eileen, Kevin Hagan, Kerry Ann, Colleen Elizabeth, and Matthew James. Since becoming a grandfather, James has been affectionately known as "Poppy" or "Pop" for short, by his family and close friends. Poppy Concannon joined the Navy during World War II and had a distinguished Military career as a Naval Pilot. Poppy felt his two greatest military accomplishments were as a pilot during the Berlin Airlift in 1948-1949 and as a Flog-Wing WesPac staff member in 1950-1953 during the Korean War. After completing his military services, Poppy attended the University of Texas in Pre-med. However, due to the illness of his oldest daughter, Poppy moved his family to Tucson, Arizona. There, he pursued mining and metallurgy; developing and promoting dry air flotation tables, Magnetite as a sandblasting agent, and a new Ore-to-Steel Process. While in Tucson Poppy was a longtime University of Arizona sports fan, attending every home game in basketball, and football. He was also well known and loved in the Irish American community. Poppy was a great thinker and problem solver and was willing to go to great lengths for anyone who was in need. He was loved and will be missed by all who knew him. His wife of 68 years, Marian, and his four youngest living children, Kevin, Kerry, Colleen, and Matthew; as well as eleven grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren, survive "Poppy" James Noel Concannon.