Clayton "Clay" Cannavo of West Bend, died peacefully on Sunday, March 9, 2014 at the age of 87. He was born on October 8th, 1926 in Des Moines, Iowa to the late Mary Anne (nee Pierson) and Charles Cannavo. He graduated from high school in Des Moines, serving as class president, in 1944. Thereafter, he attended Coyne Electrical School in Chicago, IL, and then served in the US Army during World War II. After brief stays in Arkansas, Denver, and Las Vegas, where he did electrical maintenance on B-29s, he was stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, NC. It was there that he met the love of his life, Charity Wiggins. They were united in marriage on May 9th, 1947, in Goldsboro.
After marriage, Clay moved to Milwaukee, where he worked for many years driving truck for Gateway Transportation. He settled in West Bend in 1964. After retiring from Gateway, Clay worked part time as a truck driver at Lakeland Cartage in Saukville. Clay loved shooting pool, reading, woodworking, and cooking. He loved to experiment with recipes and was known for his delicious pizzas, chili, and goulash. He also loved grilling out, and was known to fire up the grill during less than favorable weather conditions. Clay also loved a good joke and had a wit and sense of humor that will be dearly missed.
Clay is survived by his wife of nearly 67 years, Charity, daughters Marianne Lindquist of Pittsburg, CA, and Linda Mertens of West Bend, sons Steve (Cherry) of West Bend, and Cameron (Jennifer) of Oostburg. He is further survived by grandchildren Heidi Lindquist, Kristoffer (Sandra) Lindquist, Adam Gebhard, Nicole (John) Stark, Steve Cannavo Jr., Chris (Anna) Cannavo, Sara Cannavo, Daniel Cannavo, four great grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, and friends. Clay was preceded in death by his daughter, Laura Cannavo, his parents, 4 sisters and 7 brothers.
Private Services will be held on Thursday, March 13th, from 4-5:00 pm at Phillip Funeral Home in West Bend, with Pastor Mark Harmon officiating.
The family would like to extend a special "Thank You" to Dr. George Mosley and his staff, and the Kathy Hospice for the care and services they provided.