Betty Sue (Howard) Cannon, 87, longtime resident of Olton, died Sunday, April 8, 2018, in Lubbock.  Services will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 14, 2018 at Main Street Church of Christ in Olton.  Officiating minister will be Rex Boyles, Church of Christ minister of Lubbock, and former youth minister at Olton, and Joe Carrasco, minister of Main Street Church of Christ. Interment will be in Olton Cemetery under the direction of Ramage Funeral Directors.  The family will receive friends at Ramage Funeral Directors from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M., Friday, April 13, 2018.

Sue was born June 15, 1930 in Erick, Oklahoma. She moved to Olton with her parents, L.W. (Doc) and Loreta (Reat) Howard in 1943. She attended schools in Spearman, Amarillo, Hart, Plainview and Olton.  She was a 1948 graduate of Olton High School.  After graduation, she attended Watson Business School in Plainview. She was fondly called "Sue Baby" by her classmates, "Mama" to six children and "MamaSue" to ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Sue was a longtime member of the Church of Christ.

Employed by Olton Bakery, she also worked at Olton  Drug and Pioneer Gas until her marriage to Jim Cannon on  December 23, 1950. The following 13 years, Sue and Jim lived in Mansfield, Texas; in Florida; and parts of Indiana.  Sue returned to Olton, after her divorce in 1964, as a single mother with six children under the age of 13. Her oldest daughter, Susan Wiggains and her husband David make their home in Canyon; Jim lives in Amarillo; Guy, in Atlanta, GA; Debbie Alcorta and her husband Joe live in Olton; and Gregg and his wife Michelle and family live in Conroe. Her son Scotty preceded her in death in September 2012. Also preceding her in death were her parents, a sister, Retta Lou Snider, a brother, Charles Ray Howard, and a grandson, Joseph Alcorta. Survivors also include three sisters, Kay Gallion of Lubbock; Joyce Hoover and her husband Joe of Georgetown; and Belva Sikes and her husband Donald of Lubbock.

Upon her return to Olton, she worked odd jobs trying to make ends meet until the fortunate encounter with Bill and Amy Turner. The couple, who owned and operated The Olton Enterprise hired Sue as a typesetter. She became Managing Editor in 1967. Four years later, she purchased the Olton paper, the Enterprise Studio and The Hart Beat.  She established The Kress Chronicle in 1969 for the community of Kress, and assembled it, along with the other two papers, for the next 11 years.  At the same time, she operated a full-time photography studio and was a local and area wedding photographer.  The Olton office was also home to The Plains Pride of Yoakum County from 1985 until 1994, a newspaper operated by her daughter Debbie and her husband Joe Alcorta.  She also didn't hesitate to help publish the Amherst News when their paper was struggling. She was always offering a hand up, realizing those "hand ups" were so generously offered to her so many times through the years, while trying to raise six children.

Sue became active in the Panhandle Press Association, serving as secretary and was the first woman to be elected to the board.  She was inducted into that association's Hall of Fame in 2001 in Amarillo.  She was also a member of Texas Press Association, National Newspaper Association and West Texas Press Association.

Sue served on the Olton ISD School Board, the Olton City Council, and Olton Retail Merchants.  She was a member, board member, manager and volunteer secretary for the Olton Chamber of Commerce for many consecutive years, serving as secretary and helping organize the Olton Pheasant Hunt, that has continued since, each winter. She helped with the pursuit of the dream of Olton's Running Water Draw Care Center. She was an advocate for the "Find a Doctor" campaign. Sue was the first woman president of Olton Chamber of Commerce.  A member of the Olton Lions Club, she was named Woman of the Year in 1972, Citizen Through the Years in 2003 and Olton's Super Spirit Booster in 2011.  The Olton Stock Show was dedicated to her in 2003.  She received the Future Homemakers Business award.  She promoted Olton in every possible way. You could find her with her camera at football games, basketball games, baseball games, and all types of events.

After 38 years in the newspaper business, Sue sold the Enterprise in 2002, while still continuing her photography business. Throughout the years when downtime could be found at the newspaper office, employees would be typing and typing the weekly recipes from the old bound books of newspapers from years ago. In 2003, Sue was able to complete and publish her beloved "Cook of the Week" cookbook, comprising 40 years of recipes from Olton's weekly newspaper -  a project that was very near and dear to her heart.

Sue fell ill with a form of Parkinsons Disease, diagnosed in 2013, and fought her battle with the will to live, right up to her last breath. Having a non related illness and hospitalized for several weeks since the day after Christmas, she was transferred to a rehab facility and was determined to "make it back home". She was to be discharged from care on Saturday, April 7. Not wanting to take the chances of the cold spell that hit the region, the facility opted to wait till Monday for warmer temperatures. Although she didn't make that move back to Olton, Sue did "go home" to a host of family and friends she has so dearly missed through the years. She died early Sunday morning around 5:15 a.m.