The Gannon Legacy in Greenwich, NY & St. Lawrence University

On Friday, December 21, 2018 I spoke with Mark Mulholland about James Kimball "Kim" Gannon. I think the reporter from WNYT was just expecting a little story about "I'll Be Home For Christmas" & the lyricist who called Greenwich home. I don't think he realized the impact Kim & his wife Norma had on Greenwich & their alma mater, St. Lawrence University.

To here & read the news cast, click HERE.

"I'll Be Home For Christmas" was originally sung by Bing Crosby in 1943

Below is an article about the Gannons, written by Sandy McReynolds, Gill Room Historian.

The Greenwich Journal & Salem Press

December 18, 2014

Old News
From the Archives of Gill Room
By Sandy McReynolds, historian

The Gannon Legacy

Gannon in 1934 as an Albany Law School graduate

I’m sure by now many have read numerous articles over the years in regards to James Kimball Gannon. This article is intended for those that are unaware of the connection between Greenwich and the gentleman behind one of Christmas’ greatest songs. Kim and Norma Gannon have become household names over the last decade due in part to the generosity of Mrs. Norma Gannon. Upon her death on April 1, 2000, Norma had left a sizable endowment for the purpose of providing programs and services for the youth of the village to better themselves and their community. 

James Kimball “Kim” Gannon was born in Brooklyn on November 18, 1900, to parents James H. and Harriet Kimball Gannon. After graduating high school, James eventually found himself at St. Lawrence University where in his senior year of 1924, had written a song that would become the schools alma mater, on campus it is referred to as “The Scarlet and the Brown”. It was also during this time when Norma Allen came into his life and the two eloped.

It was in 1929 when the couple had made their way to Greenwich and James began work in the local office of the New York Power & Light Corporation. Working in the office wasn’t enough and in 1931, he began Albany Law School. While in school, he began work in a law firm in Ballston Spa and commuted from Greenwich. Deciding to move again in 1933, he and Norma settled in Ballston Spa. The following year he graduated and passed the New York Bar exam. During all of this, he began hosting a show on Schenectady’s WGY radio station under the name of Johnny Albright. Entertaining was in his blood.
Finally in 1939, he relinquished the idea of practicing law and pursued his true path in the musical world. James and Norma moved once again, this time to New York City where he found work writing lyrics for other composers, and eventually catching the attention of Warner Brothers, who signed him to contract in 1942. Hollywood came calling next and he and Norma headed to the West Coast. It was here that he began to mingle with the stars of the day usually out on the golf course, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope most notably. He was hired by other studios to work on projects as well. 

Kim Gannon’s work has been heard in nearly 30 films, and what is rarely heard about is, some use of his songs has been used in cartoons. Several Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons from the Warner Brothers collection have included his songs.

However it is the 1943 classic written with Walter Kent, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” that has endured. It is hard to find anyone that in this day and age that has not heard of this holiday song as there have been over 200 version recorded by artist of all genres. Bing Crosby was the first to record the song and it appeared on the flip side of another of Crosby’s classics, “White Christmas” in 1943. The following year “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” became the most requested song at USO shows by the soldiers of World War II. Two decades later on December 17, 1965, the Crosby recording became the first ‘request’ (by astronauts James Lovell and Frank Borman, Gemini 7), that was broadcast into outer space.

Other songs of Gannon’s have been recorded by such artists as, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Cab Calloway, Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras, Dick Haymes, and Johnny Mathis. His final song to be recorded was “I Want to Be Wanted” by Brenda Lee in 1960.
1949 saw the Gannon’s return to Greenwich. Though NYC was from where Kim worked from, they spent their off time back here in the village. Changing things up a bit, he and Walter Kent collaborated on a Broadway play “Seventeen”, writing thirteen songs for the show that was produced by comedy great Milton Berle. 

Kim Gannon wrote the lyrics to the Broadway Musical "Seventeen"

Upon his retirement from the entertainment field, it was Greenwich where Kim and Norma made their home. An avid golfer, Kim spent many hours at the Battenkill Country Club. They were both active members of the community and supporters of Mary McClellan Hospital. A plaque was placed in memory of James Kimball Gannon in the East Wing after his death.
They spent winters in Palm Beach, Florida and on April 29, 1974 it was there that James passed away. He was buried here in the Greenwich Cemetery, with the words “A Song Is Forever” engraved upon his headstone. 

Norma Gannon spent the remainder of her life in the village that she loved. Mrs. Norma Allen Gannon passed away at home on April 1, 2000, and is also buried in the Greenwich Cemetery. It was upon her death that an endowment was left for the youth of Greenwich. Though it did not become publically known until 2006 that she had done so, the Gannon Trust consisted of mutual fund investments valued at approximately $800,000; 14 acres of village property, a value of nearly $100,000; and continuing royalties from song copyrights. 

An organization was formed and named Citizens Committee for Greenwich Youth, Inc. (CCGY) to represent the youth and to oversee the usage of the trust as Mrs. Gannon had intended. The first project was the repurposing of the village seasonal ice rink to a year round activity center for the young children. In 2009, Gannon Park was dedicated to coincide with the village bicentennial. This “pocket playground” was designed with the small children of the village in mind. A whiffle-ball field “Little Fenway”; playground equipment; basketball courts; and the favorite among the visitors in the hot summer months—the splash pad (which was added in 2010). Two scholarships have also been created for graduating seniors, the James “Kim” Gannon Scholarship for Performing Arts and the Norma A. Gannon Memorial Scholarship for Community Service. 

For the kids that fall in between the very young and the seniors, something else was needed. A youth center was created and opened in June of 2011. Gaining in popularity yearly, the Greenwich Youth Center (GYC) has added hours and programs to accommodate the needs of the kids in grades 3 to 12. The newest item to be added to the center is the radio station, WGRE 105.1, the kids have been creating and broadcasting podcast on the radio equipment. Whenever the center is open, the youth flock to it, as there is always something going on. Looking at the number of local youth that utilize this program proves beyond a doubt that the CCGY has been fulfilling Mrs. Gannon’s wish.