Lois Driggs Cannon: Educator, Mother, and Buzz Aldrin’s Third Wife
Lois Driggs Cannon was an educator, mother of three, and the third wife of Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Long before their 1988 marriage, she studied at Stanford and earned a teaching credential at UCLA. She taught in California, lived in Europe, and raised three children. After meeting Aldrin in 1985, she became an important partner in the public and business life he built after NASA.
Her life reached far beyond the label of astronaut’s wife. She came from a well-known Arizona family. She had her own work, family, and travel history. Later, she helped Aldrin turn his space ideas into books and talks. She also helped with contacts and public projects. Their marriage lasted 24 years.
Growing Up in Phoenix
Lois Driggs Cannon was born Lois Driggs on November 2, 1929. Her parents were Douglas H. Driggs and Effie Driggs. The family had deep roots in Arizona and in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Her father helped start Western Savings and Loan with other members of the Driggs family. The business began in Phoenix in 1929, the same year she was born. It later grew into a major Arizona firm.
Her obituary in The Arizona Republic through Legacy described a lively childhood. She played boogie-woogie piano and acted in school plays. She also danced to live swing bands. At North Phoenix High School, friends called her “Mighty Mouse.”
That energy stayed with her. She liked travel, music, people, and public events. She also took school seriously. She built a career before family life became her main focus.
Stanford and a Career in Teaching
She began college at the University of Utah and later went to Stanford University. She graduated from Stanford in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in education.
After college, she spent about nine months in Europe. She then returned to the United States and earned a teaching credential at UCLA.
Her first career was in the classroom. She taught in Beverly Hills and Palo Alto.
That part of Lois Driggs Cannon’s life is easy to miss. Years before she met Buzz Aldrin, she had already finished college. She had also traveled abroad and worked as a teacher.
A First Marriage and Ten Years in Europe
In 1955, she married Bryant W. Cannon in the LDS temple in Mesa, Arizona.
The couple then spent about ten years in Europe. He worked for IBM and ITT. Two of their daughters were born while the family lived overseas.
They later returned to the United States. Their son was born in Arizona. The family eventually settled in Emerald Bay in Laguna Beach, California.
Lois and Bryant were married for 27 years. They had three children: Lisa, Brynn, and Bryant Cannon.
By the time her first marriage ended, she had lived through several chapters. She had been a teacher and a mother. She had also been a longtime wife and an American living abroad.
Meeting Buzz Aldrin in 1985
Lois Driggs Cannon met Buzz Aldrin in 1985 at a singles party in Southern California.
A 1989 profile in The Washington Post said she was drawn to him, but she was not in awe of his moon fame. She had watched Apollo 11 like millions of other people, yet she met him as a man rather than as a hero from television.
She invited him to a social event. Aldrin arrived in his decorated Air Force uniform and made a strong impression.
Their relationship grew. They traveled and skied. They attended events and talked about the future. Aldrin still had strong ideas about space travel. She became interested in helping him share those ideas with a wider public.
A Long Engagement Helped Them Become a Team
The couple announced their engagement in December 1986.
They waited more than a year before the wedding. Lois later told the Los Angeles Times that the wait had helped them become a team.
That word fits the years that followed. She brought strong social skills and energy. She also had a gift for making useful contacts. Aldrin brought a famous name and deep space knowledge. He also had many plans for the future.
Their partnership began to mix family life with books, travel, speaking, and space work.
A Valentine’s Day Wedding in Phoenix
Lois Driggs Cannon and Buzz Aldrin married on February 14, 1988. The wedding took place at the Western Savings Corporate Center in Phoenix.
More than 300 guests attended. The site had a close tie to her family because Western Savings was run by the Driggs family.
Her parents were there. Aldrin’s daughter Jan also took part in the ceremony.
The wedding joined two families. Aldrin had three children from his first marriage. Lois also had three children. NASA later described them as a blended family of six grown children.
The couple kept Laguna Beach as their main home. They traveled often for work. They also went to many public events.
Helping Buzz Aldrin Build a New Public Life
One of the most important parts of Lois Driggs Cannon’s story came after the wedding.
Aldrin’s years after NASA had not always been easy. He had faced depression and other hard personal periods. By the late 1980s, he wanted to look ahead. He had new ideas about Mars and space travel. He also thought about the future of human flight.
His wife helped him take those ideas to more people.
The Washington Post reported that she introduced him to social circles and urged him to speak more openly about his plans. She helped with his public look. She also made contacts that could move projects forward.
She also helped with book opportunities. Her obituary later said the couple built a business around his past work and his future goals. She handled much of the day-to-day work that kept those plans moving.
More Than a Red-Carpet Spouse
Lois Driggs Cannon did attend public events with Aldrin, but her role went beyond showing up for photos.
She knew how to make connections. She was at ease in social settings. A meeting could soon become a useful new contact. Those skills helped once she and Aldrin began appearing together.
Aldrin wanted people to see him as more than the second man to walk on the moon. He wanted to talk about what should come next in space.
She helped him build a platform for that message. This gave their marriage a business side as well as a private one.
Their Blended Family of Six Children
Family was another large part of the marriage.
Aldrin had two sons and a daughter from his first marriage. Lois had two daughters and a son from hers.
NASA’s biography of Aldrin later listed the couple as having six grown children in their blended family.
By the time they married, the children were grown or close to adulthood. Their home was not about starting over with young children. It was about joining two families that already had long histories.
For Lois Driggs Cannon, life with the astronaut never replaced her first family. Her children remained part of the larger family story.
An Independent Social Life
Lois had learned to move through public life on her own before meeting Aldrin.
After her first marriage, she attended events and built friendships as a single woman. That gave her confidence in rooms filled with public figures, business leaders, and social groups.
Those skills became useful once she and Aldrin began appearing together. She could make people feel at ease and help him meet people who might support his ideas.
She did not need to be the famous person in the room. She was good at helping the famous person beside her use the room well.
Twenty-Four Years of Marriage
Lois and Buzz remained married for 24 years. Their divorce was finalized in 2012.
The marriage covered a long part of Aldrin’s life after NASA. During those years, he wrote books and gave speeches. He promoted space plans and stayed active in public life.
She was beside him through much of that work.
Their divorce closed a long chapter, but it did not erase the role she had played. Reports from the time and her later obituary both show a real partnership that mixed marriage, business, travel, and public work.
Her Later Years
Lois Driggs Cannon died of natural causes on July 17, 2018, in Salt Lake City. She was 88.
Her obituary looked back on a life that crossed Arizona, California, and Europe. It recalled her years as a teacher and mother. It also covered her life as a wife, traveler, and partner in Aldrin’s later work.
She was survived by her three children, Lisa, Brynn, and Bryant, as well as other members of the Driggs family.
The obituary also shared a simple idea she carried through life. She believed people could not control every turn, but they could choose how to meet the day.
Why Her Story Still Matters
People often find her name while reading about Buzz Aldrin or Apollo 11. Yet her life adds a different view of the famous astronaut’s later years.
She had an education and career of her own before they met. She had raised three children. She had also spent years living abroad. She knew how to build relationships and move with ease in public settings.
After the wedding, those skills became useful in Aldrin’s work. She helped him turn space ideas into books and talks. She also helped build contacts and a stronger public mission.
That is why Lois Driggs Cannon deserves more than a short label as Buzz Aldrin’s third wife. She was an educator, mother, traveler, and organizer. She was also a partner who helped shape a major part of his life after the moon.
For another verified profile about a woman whose life crossed paths with a major public figure, read our Teruko Nakagami profile on LakewoodScoop.co.uk.