James H. Cannon of Westwood died Nov. 28. He was 86.

Mr. Cannon was born in Los Angeles, Calif., on Jan. 1, 1927. He enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1944 and was stationed on Okinawa from 1946 to 1947. He married Joann Harper in 1950. After graduating from Stanford University in 1951 with a degree in engineering, he joined the family business, the Cannon Electric Company.

In 1956, Jim moved to Beverly Farms to be the general manager of the Cannon Electric plant in Salem. After the sale of Cannon Electric to ITT in 1963, he founded the Cannon Guild, a harpsichord maker in Cambridge.

Divorced in 1968, he married Alison Duff Randall in 1969 and settled in Chestnut Hill. Jim was president of the Tennis & Racquet Club in Boston, a member of the Country Club, Brookline, the Cambridge Society for Early Music and the Wine and Food Society. After many years as a summer resident, he retired to Martha’s Vineyard, where he was commodore of the Edgartown Yacht Club, president of the Edgartown Reading Room, and president of the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. He was also a member of the Chappaquiddick Beach Club, Edgartown Golf Club, the Vineyard Conservation Society and a member of the First and Third Club in Vineyard Haven.

Jim was an accomplished harpsichord player, an avid court tennis player and a competitive sailor.

He is survived by his wife Alison; his sister Patricia Arnell of Tucson, Ariz.; his son Peter of New York city; two daughters, Jane of New York city and Catherine of London, England; stepsons Donn Randall of Wellesley, Jeffrey Randall of Dedham, Stuart Randall of Rye Brook, N.Y., and stepdaughter Shelley Randall of Concord, N.H.; three grandchildren and eight step-grandchildren.

Services and interment are private.