Charles William Cunningham

Charles William Cunningham passed away on Tuesday, August 30, 2016 at The Brethren Home at Cross Keys Village. He was the husband of Isabelle Greenwood Cunningham, to whom he was married for nearly sixteen years. He survived his first wife, Joan Degnan Cunningham, to whom he was married for nearly forty-seven years before she passed away in the year 2000. Born on November 5, 1926 in Malden, Mass., he was the son of the late Richmond S. and Myrtle L. (Hayward) Cunningham. Mr. Cunningham worked all of his life as an electrical engineer; his accomplishments included working on the Department of Defense Autovon communications system. He retired from AT&T in 1987. He attended the University of Maine at Orono while serving throughout his college years in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He was a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. He was an avid amateur photographer for several decades, active in the North Bethesda Camera Club of Bethesda, Md., and won several photography awards in club and regional competitions. He was also active in politics in Montgomery County, Maryland. Mr. Cunningham is survived by his four daughters, Jan Cunningham Helman and husband, Daniel, of East Berlin, Carol C. Dale and husband, Robert, of Wilmington, N.C., Kristen J. Cunningham-Gower and husband, Cory, of Lehi, Utah, Lynn L. Cunningham and husband, Scott Grossman, of Reston, Va.; his son, Charles W. Cunningham, Jr. and wife, Martha, of Germantown, Md.; seven grandchildren: Ian Strouse, Gillian Gower, Andre Gower, Katya Gruhala, Grace Hanson, Theodore Hanson, and Sarah Cunningham; and one brother, Paul Cunningham of Highland County, Va. He was preceded in death by his siblings, Eunice Curtin, Myrtle Umland, Richmond Harley Cunningham, Walter Cunningham, and Jane MacKenzie. Services will be private at the convenience of the family. Heffner Funeral Chapel & Crematory, Inc., 1551 Kenneth Rd., York, is in charge of arrangements.