My great uncle, Michael J. Gannam died June 10, 2003, after a long battle with cancer.

He was born in Savannah to Karam and Annie Gannam and was a communicant of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Uncle Mike graduated from Benedictine Military School in 1941 and served with the U.S. Army Air Corps in the South Pacific during World War II. He attended Armstrong Junior College and received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Georgia in 1948.

He was the senior partner in the law firm of Gannam & Gnann, LLP. Mr. Gannam taught business law, political science and history at Armstrong State College from 1951 to 1962. He was active in his community serving on many boards and with community organizations, including the Historic Savannah Foundation, the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Savannah Arts Commission, the Savannah Council of World Affairs, and the Gilmer Lecture Series Fund. Mr. Gannam was a former president of the Savannah Bar Association and served on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia from 1968 to 1999.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Marion DeFrank Gannam; his four children, James Gannam and Cynthia Heitger, Ann Gannam and Dan Gourde, Elizabeth and Ron Jorde, and Joe Gannam and Melanie Marks; and three grandchildren, Joshua, Nathan, and Joseph Gannam.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated June 13 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist with burial in Bonaventure Cemetery.

For more about Uncle Mike's life, please read Savannah Morning News, June 11, 2003.
Long-time lawyer cared for people. Gannam, whom one colleague called a "senior statesman" in state bar circles and another described as a person whose views attracted careful attention, was a man with a way with people.

Photographs:
1) Mike Gannam
2) Mike and Marion on their wedding day.
3) Right to Left: Mike, his mother Annie Abraham Gannam, and his brother Nazer.
4) Gannam family circa 1939: Left to right back: Mike, George, Mary (married Saraf, Beecher), Anthony, Nazer. Seated Karam Gannam and his wife Annie Abraham Gannam.
5) Mike Gannam in his military uniform circa 1943.
6) Mike Gannam at the family home on Hopkins Street in Savannah.
7) Mike Gannam at Tybee Beach circa 1956.
8) Mike Gannam with nephews "Bogie" Antoine and George Saraf circa 1946.
9) Mike Gannam with high school friends.