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A Brief Biography of the Rev. William S. Gannon
Ordained to the Episcopal Church priesthood by Bishop Charles Hall, Bill Gannon began his ministry as a curate under the Rev. Al Kershaw at All Saints’ Parish, Peterborough, NH. in June, 1962.
In March of 1964, Bill left to become the Rector of St. Andrew’s Church in West Manchester , NH . Two years later he began “Operation Contact,“ an inner city project which sought to connect Church and City with the needs of West side residents. He also taught Theology part time at St. Anselm’s College becoming the first Protestant in the Theology Department and also teaching courses in Urban sociology and Cultural Anthropology in the Sociology Department.
In 1969, he became the head of the Sacred Studies Department at the Groton School , Groton , MA , and then a Master at St. Paul ’s School, Concord , NH , teaching courses in Religion, Ancient History, English, and Jazz. While at St. Paul’s, he also taught in the Advanced Studies Program, the summer school for New Hampshire public high school students. He left St. Paul ’s to become the headmaster of St. Mary’s School in Peekskill , NY for four years and then briefly the head of The Lenox School, New York City.
For ten years he had a very successful business career working in New York City for a Dun and Bradstreet subsidiary, the American Credit Indemnity Company. During both his educational and business careers he continued to serve on Sundays in churches as a supply minister. He returned to full time parish ministry in 1991 serving as Rector of Christ Church, Glen Ridge, NJ. In 1999 he became the Rector of St. Andrew’s, Harrington Park , NJ , retiring from full time ministry in 2003. Since then he has worked in the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire from time to time as a Supply Priest and Interim Rector (St. Andrew’s-In-The-Valley, Tamworth, St. James, Laconia , and Trinity, Claremont , Our Savior, Milford ).
An alumnus of Pinkerton Academy, Derry, NH, he graduated from Norwich University, Northfield, VT, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History in 1958 and was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the Army Signal Corps. Prior to ordination in 1962, he received two graduate degrees, a Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology, from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, Austin , TX .
He has been an active jazz musician throughout his life, playing the trombone and the double bass in small and large bands from Vermont to Texas to New York City . He has also written extensively for national educational and church journals as well as local news outlets.
He and his wife, Barbara, have been married for 30 years and moved to Bedford , NH in 2003. She has had an active and varied business career in New York City mostly in positions where she reported to the presidents of major corporations. Now retired, her last position was Director of Human Resources for Lifecodes, a biotechnology corporation in New York which was responsible for the development of DNA testing.
The Gannons have four grown children, Steven Guthrie, Sarah Weston, Rebecca Blake, and Hannah Albee. Their families include three husbands, Larry, Mel, and Steve, and seven grandchildren.
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