Columbus
Decades of sound financial counsel, standing up for young professional women, fighting the scourge of domestic violence, promoting the arts, friendships that ran deep, celebrations that went late.
This is Sarah Brady Cannon’s mark on Columbus, the result of a job move that the mother of one, sister of eight and friend and confidant to many expected would last hardly a year.
Instead, it was the start of a three-decade dance in which the investment adviser grew into one of the city’s most effective champions.
Her life ended June 2, 2021, at age 74 after a 21-month battle with lung cancer.
But Sarah’s legacy lives on, in the clients she guided through the turmoil of the Great Recession, the business professionals and civic leaders with whom she stood arm in arm, an already-vibrant city whose star shone just a bit brighter and the friends and loved ones whose lives she filled with acts of kindness and strength.
Sarah Jane Brady was born June 22, 1946, in Washington, D.C., the first in a bustling Catholic tribe led by parents James and Jane (Ganster) Brady, both of whom preceded her in death. The family migrated west, settling first in Brookville, Indiana, about an hour west of Cincinnati, before eventually arriving in Indianapolis, where her father sold advertisements for The Criterion, a publication of the city’s archdiocese.
Imperfection is a hallmark of any childhood. And that time of life in Sarah’s house, which had one tub/shower for 11 people, was no exception.
The brood still knew how to have fun. When Mom and Dad were outside the house, you might have found the kids cranking up the hi-fi with “The Twist” by Chubby Checker and Sarah beckoning her siblings to dance with her.
Along the way, she began answering to the nickname “Ra-rah.”
Outside the home, Sarah developed a lifelong bond with two high school classmates at St. Mary’s Academy (1964) that yielded an unsanctioned anti-clique at the school: the Mature, Intelligent Teenage Zombies.
You wouldn’t have found them in any yearbook, but you might have caught a glance of their black and gold sorority pins bearing the “MITZ” acronym that were usually tucked under a blazer or sweater.
The trio enjoyed a rich friendship, reading and reflecting on the likes of “Great Expectations” and “Kon-Tiki” in an after-school book club — Sarah was in a vibrant book club at her passing — sharing Cokes at a local drug store, listening to records at a nearby music shop and dancing in the high school gym after lunch.
Education after high school started and quickly paused, as Sarah tested out of a freshman-year college composition class before realizing she needed a job.
This eventually brought her into a lifelong career in finance, which included a series of roles at banks and credit unions in the Indianapolis area, and briefly saw her leading her own consulting business.
It was during this time the Edgar Allan Poe fan gave birth to and raised her son, Christopher Allan Rickett, who survives her. Early in his life, she marveled over his ability to sleep through the night and consume cottage cheese.
She’d often sing to him a song popular during his first year of life, “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” by The Carpenters.
As parenthood does for many, Chris’ adolescence brought Sarah patience, not to mention tolerance of the budding drummer’s musical exploration.
Chris’ eventual departure for college coincided with a fateful job opportunity that brought her to Columbus, though with no network in the city an hour south of Indianapolis, she doubted it’d last.
Her 50th birthday did little to assuage those uncertainties. She spent the day at a professional crossroads, pacing outdoors and wondering out loud what path she should take.
As she had so often in her life, Sarah chose a route less traveled.
She committed to entering the world of investment advising, which first led her to obtain the “gold standard” certification, a Series 7 license.
The typical aspirant might have been half her age and/or held a college degree. Neither of these facts got in her way, and she hardly stopped there.
Working at Irwin Union Bank (later known as First Financial Wealth Management), Sarah in 2002 became a Certified Financial Planner, a designation that Investopedia describes as one of the hardest for financial advisers to attain.
The certification required her to develop a financial expertise in matters concerning retirement, investing, education, insurance and taxes, and it was only as useful as the relationships she forged with clients, who made their homes all over the state and all across the U.S.
Their situations, fears and hopes varied from client to client, and she met them where they were, an approach that engendered mutual respect and trust.
And as her professional portfolio grew, so did her ties to the community.
One activity she dove into roughly two decades ago elevated the importance of domestic violence prevention in and around Columbus by bringing together experts from social services, health care, law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
The collaborative nature of the Domestic Violence Action Team allowed little room for individual credit for its initiatives — such as raising the issue at political debates, encouraging law enforcement training on the problem and teaching middle schoolers how to form and maintain healthy relationships — but Sarah’s leadership and networking talents proved invaluable.
Sarah’s civic service only grew.
She served for seven years on the board of directors for the Columbus Area Arts Council, six years on the board of Turning Point Domestic Violence Services and, for the last six years of her life, accepted a mayoral appointment to the Columbus Redevelopment Commission, which she also led.
The body is tasked with the unglamorous but necessary work of promoting and encouraging economic development. Projects have included a multimillion-dollar bridge to shorten drive times for commuters and hospital patients and redeveloping the city’s riverfront.
Such projects invite constituencies with priorities as varied as the protection of water fowl and the promotion of business growth. Sarah listened to all views and gathered consensus among her colleagues, and in the end, they made the tough decisions.
Her mission of service also found expression among young professional women and others within her extended family.
Countless professional women have a story. One describes Sarah taking her to dinner and having a candid conversation about the perils and promise of moving into a new male-dominated work environment.
Similar tales emerge from among her siblings’ children, and usually with little fanfare. One niece in financial straits received help that lightened her burden. Another, who was staring down a mortgage by herself after calling off a wedding, received a bounty of empowering advice.
Anyone who knew Sarah or perused her Facebook timeline knows she also made time to celebrate life. In everyday settings, whether on land or over water, that could mean a glass of wine and enriching conversation with any of her many friends about town.
The bonne vivante’s excursions included ziplining in Indianapolis when it hosted the 2012 Super Bowl, white-knuckling her way through skydiving from an altitude of about 10,500 feet, trips to other cities, multiple cruises, stage productions and live concerts by the likes of Barry Manilow and Elton John.
One of her final, joyous treks was a week spent in New Mexico with her son and her surviving daughter-in-law, Kaylene Riemen Rickett, who celebrated Sarah’s 73rd birthday by presenting her with a hot-air balloon bracelet charm as the trio leisurely floated over the Albuquerque skyline.
It was by no means the only jubilant birthday.
At 70, during a party she threw on her own behalf, she performed a dance for friends and family that she’d spent months practicing.
Her effort was set to the tune of “Flashdance … What a Feeling,” a defiant and ascendant No. 1 smash, much like Sarah herself.
Sarah was also preceded in death by siblings Joseph Brady and Catherine Gavette.
She is also survived by six brothers and sisters, Mike Brady, Patsy Allen, Tracy Brady, Peggy Burke, Louise Mayfield and Liz Scharf; many nieces and nephews; and her devoted Shih Tzu, Sophie.
Memorial donations can be made to Turning Point Domestic Violence Services, the Columbus Area Arts Council and Our Hospice of South Central Indiana.
A memorial service will take place June 18 at 4 p.m. at North Christian Church, 850 Tipton Lane, Columbus. Calling begins at 2 p.m.
Services have been entrusted to Barkes, Weaver & Glick Funeral Home. Online condolences and special memories may be shared with the Cannon family at barkesweaverglick.com.
