Joseph Cunningham

Joseph Cunningham, who taught at Mascoutah High School for 36 years, died October 30 after living an active 100 years. Mr. Cunningham was born April 8, 1926, near Wadestown, West Virginia. He attended one room schools in West Virginia and Michigan until he attended high school in Carmi, Illinois. After graduating high school Mr. Cunningham enlisted in the US Navy during World War II and served two years in the Pacific Theatre aboard the USS Bosque, a troop carrier that saw action off the islands of Eniwetok, Saipan, Guam, Okinawa, Marshall, Leyte, New Guinea, Noumea, the Philippines and Japan. 

After an honorable discharge in 1946, Mr. Cunningham attended Southern Illinois University, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1949 and a master’s degree in education in 1951. He taught for two years in a one room school near Carmi, Illinois and another two years in Redbud, Illinois before coming to Mascoutah in 1943. At Mascoutah High he taught English and business courses, and served as a guidance counselor. 

Shortly after arriving in Mascoutah, he met and married another high school teacher, Norma Steines. They were married for 65 years until her death in 2018, also aged 100. Mr. Cunningham was an avid gardener, hiker, and nature lover. He planted thousands of daffodil bulbs along Highway 4 which still bloom every April and beautify the highway into Mascoutah. The city of Mascoutah honored his highway beautification efforts and proclaimed April 15, 2015 as “Joe Cunningham Day.”

 Mr. Cunningham was able to celebrate his 100th birthday in April by traveling to California and Oregon to see his daughters and their husbands, his grandchildren and their spouses and his great grandchildren. 

He was preceded in death by his mother Grace, his father Charles, his three brothers and two sisters. He is survived by his two daughters, Kathryn Grogman and her husband Bruce, Linda Cunningham and her husband Edward Schultheiss, five grandchildren, Andy (Allison), Sarah (Matt), Ben, Grace (Mark) and Alex (Emily). He is also survived by three great grandsons, James, Adam, and Braxton. 

In lieu of all other gifts, donations may be made to Mascoutah Public Library. 

A private burial will be held at Green Mount Cemetery.