Mary Ellen McCabe Cannon, 84, passed away peacefully at home after a long illness on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. Born in Providence, Rhode Island on November 22, 1941, she was the daughter of Chief Judge Francis J. McCabe and Mary Ellen (O’Leary) McCabe. She was the devoted wife of Dr. Joseph E. Cannon until his passing in 1989.
Mary Ellen was a lifelong resident of the East Side of Providence, and spent summers at her family summer home, Bit O’Heaven, on the south shore cliffs of Block Island, Rhode Island. She attended St. Sebastian’s School and was a 1959 cum laude graduate of Elmhurst Academy, Convent of the Sacred Heart. She received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University in 1963, where she was a College Honor Scholar and frequently attained membership on the Dean’s List. In 1966, Mary Ellen received her law degree from Boston University Law School, graduating in the top ten percent of her class; while in law school, she was a semi-finalist in the Homer Albus Moot Court Competition and had consecutive summer clerkships at the law firm of
Tillinghast, Collins & Tanner in Providence. She was admitted to practice law before the Massachusetts and the Rhode Island Bars in 1966. She was a longstanding member of the American Judicature Society.
Mary Ellen began her legal career as a law clerk to Chief Justice Thomas H. Roberts of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. She then spent several years in private practice before embarking upon a long and illustrious career in public service. Mary Ellen served simultaneously as legal counsel to both the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Rhode Island Department of Natural Resources in the early 1970s before becoming Chief Legal Counsel and ultimately Associate Director to the Rhode Island Department of Health. Although she retired from the Health Department in 2004, she kept an active involvement in various legal causes, including environmental protection and land conservation on Block Island. Throughout her career, Mary Ellen was an engaged member of the Rhode Island Bar Association, serving as a speaker during annual meetings and as a member of the Editorial Board of the Rhode Island Bar Journal.
Mary Ellen was a lifelong communicant of the Church of St. Sebastian in Providence and St. Andrew Parish on Block Island.
Her greatest joy in life was spending time at the beach on Block Island with her sister, Marcia, her niece, Mary Alice, and her beloved great nephew, John, who was her pride and joy. Even at the most difficult points in her illness, Mary Ellen always had a bright smile and a cheerful word for her John. She was a devoted and loving wife, aunt, sister, and friend. Her kindness, compassion, wisdom, strength and enduring optimism will forever be remembered by those who loved her. Words cannot express how much she is already missed by those who loved her.
She is survived by her devoted niece, Mary Alice Wilbur-Daly, Esq. and her husband, Dr. Brian P. Daly of Providence; her beloved great nephew, John McCabe Daly of Providence; her brother-in-law, Michael F. Wilbur of Providence; her brother, Dr. Francis J. McCabe, Jr. and his wife Paola of Cushing, Maine; her niece, Leah McCabe Stein and her husband, Dr. Karl Stein; as well as great nephews Giancarlo Stein and Daggan Stein. She was preceded in death by her husband Dr. Joseph E. Cannon as well as her sister and dearest friend, Marcia Joan McCabe Wilbur, Esq.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Monahan, Drabble & Sherman Funeral Home, 210 Taunton Avenue, East Providence, Rhode Island 02914. Calling hours will be held from 3PM to 5PM on Wednesday May 27, 2026. A mass of Christian burial will be held on Thursday May 28, 2026 at 11AM in the Church of St. Sebastian Providence, Rhode Island, followed by burial at Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island. A reception will follow at the University Club, 219 Benefit Street, Providence Rhode Island.
Additionally, a joint celebration of life for Mary Ellen and her sister, Marcia, will be held during the summer of 2026 at St. Andrew Church, Block Island, Rhode Island with reception to follow. Friends and family are warmly invited to attend this gathering to honor these two remarkable women.
Donations can be made in Mary Ellen’s name to the Mary D Fund, PO Box 323, Block Island, Rhode Island 02807. Please make a notation that your donation is in memory of Mary Ellen McCabe.
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