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Edward Canning, 85, Southport Educator, Volunteer

SOUTHPORT, Conn. – Edward Xavier Canning died of cancer May 28 at his home in the Southport section of Fairfield. He was 85.

Born Nov. 4, 1926, in Boston, he was the son of Joseph and Esther Simpson Canning. He grew up in Dedham, Mass., and entered the College of the Holy Cross in 1944, before leaving the following year to join the Society of Jesus.

Canning studied classics, philosophy and theology and matriculated with advance degrees in 1958. He was ordained a Jesuit priest the previous year. He found his passion as a teacher and taught high school students through the 1950s and 1960s at Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine; Fairfield Prep; and Xavier High School in Concord, Mass.

In 1969, Canning moved to Washington, D.C., to work with disadvantaged adults at the Adult Basic Education Center. For the next 10 years, he worked with Stamford, Darien and Greenwich to direct the Federal Cooperative Area Man Power Planning Systems (CAMPS). The program hired returning Vietnam War veterans into local communities as policeman, fireman and other positions.  

Then in 1980, Canning was recruited as the director of training for Carpenters Local 210. He secured grants and established apprentice-training programs in local vocational schools and later central training facilities in Litchfield and Fairfield counties. 

Canning retired in 1992 and remained active as a local volunteer. Partnering with Habitat for Humanity and state and local agencies, he created a vocational training program for young parolees in Bridgeport, teaching them carpentry skills by building and renovating abandoned housing. 

He also volunteered weekly at the Pequot Library and began teaching at the Mercy Learning Center in 2008, helping women gain high school equivalency and U.S. citizenship.

Learning to fly in his 30s, Canning took up sailing in his 50s. He and his wife were members of the Saugatuck Harbor Yacht Club, where he regularly entered races. In retirement, Canning also took up the piano and discovered yet another passion in golf. He was also interested in U.S. political history and national politics. In 2008, he and his wife hosted a fundraiser for the Barack Obama campaign. 

Caning is survived by his wife, Magdalen; a sister, Rita Meurer of Maryland; and many nieces and nephews. 

A memorial service will be held at the Egan Chapel on the Fairfield University campus, on June 23 at 10 a.m. Reminisces are welcomed and will be included in his memoirs. Lesko and Polke Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be made to the Mercy Learning Center in Bridgeport.

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