06/08/2026
Donald R. Cunningham
Donald Ray Cunningham was born in southern Illinois on January 18, 1940, and died on June 7, 2026. He was the second son of Bessie (Calloway), who went by Peggy, and Carl Cunningham. Peggy was from a poor sharecropping family that lost their father early and gained an unfriendly stepfather, but Carl had a wealthy spinster aunt who sent him to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where he competed on the track team for one year before flunking out and coming back home. Carl was 24 when he married Peggy (16). When Don was 9 years old, his family moved to Warren, Michigan, so that Carl could work for the automobile industry, and Don’s family lived in a garage-like building without an indoor toilet for quite some time while Carl built the house they would eventually move into. Don attended Fitzgerald High School in Warren, and reminisced into old age about one of his best friends, Eddie, from that time. He met his future wife, Karen Zimmer, at the Tastee Freeze where Karen worked in high school, but she was too young to be interested in him at that time. As a teenager, Don loved the movies of real-life World War II hero Audie Murphy, described as the most highly decorated enlisted soldier in American history. He wanted to drop out of high school to join the Army and be a war hero like Audie, but Carl told him that he wouldn’t sign the form until Don graduated from high school, so Don graduated first, then served in the Army between the Korean and Vietnam wars, primarily in Europe. He told us how he fell asleep next to a tree one night while on guard duty and woke up in the morning just a few feet from tank tracks that rumbled past him without waking him up, attesting to the deep sleep Don was able to routinely enter. Don talked occasionally about his war buddies, including ‘Tiny’, who was, of course, a giant man, whereas Don was only 118 pounds despite being 6’1 1/2” tall. His platoon mates told him that they would send him sideways into enemy lines with a machine gun because the enemy wouldn’t be able to hit him with such a small cross-section. Upon returning from service, Don again became smitten with Karen, and she agreed to go on a double date with him. They married in February 1963 and had their first son, Gregory Scott (whom Carl called ‘Great Scott’) in January 1964. Kateri Lynn (named after the first Native American Catholic Saint, Kateri Tekawitha) followed just 15 months later, and in August 1970, Randall Dean completed the family. Don graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in education (Spanish minor) following in the footsteps of his older brother, Ray. He enjoyed taking some classes in Mexico where he practiced his Spanish. Don cared about his elementary school students well-being and was often given the most challenging students in the grade, sometimes bringing students home for dinner when their family life was chaotic and he was worried about them. Don liked to stay busy (except for when he was napping) and rarely watched TV. The exception was Star Trek, which was the only show allowed on at the dinner table. But, he enjoyed telling stories, giving slide shows at holidays to his kids and grandkids, and musing about the vastness of outer space, the nature of life that must exist in other parts of the universe, and the possibility of life after death. He also loved to belt out his favorite songs, including ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ and ‘Amazing Grace’, laughing as he failed to hit most of the notes. As a young father, he took his family on numerous summer vacations in their pop-up camper, often to the ocean, and his young family lived by the ocean in Lompoc, CA, for one year in the mid 1960’s. He instilled a love of nature, science, and travel in his children and grandchildren, demonstrated a commitment to hard work and his family, and supported all of us unconditionally. When his wife, Karen, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in her 30s, she was able to live a normal life due to Don’s assistance and support, which she was very grateful for. Late in life, Don was excited about the new discoveries of ‘habitable’ planets around other solar systems, and he attended conferences where he heard about people’s life-after-death experiences. His interest in travel waned a bit as his interest in the stock market increased, but he was always willing to join an extended family trip, and there were many trips to various parts of the country, including Michigan, California, Colorado, Hawaii and the Caribbean. Don was a humble, caring, and thoughtful father, grandfather, and husband, generous in every sense of the word, and we will all miss him terribly, but we are glad that his journey here on Earth ended peacefully and on his terms, by choosing hospice care and having family with him. We will be listening and looking for any sign that his spirit continues to exist, since if anybody was motivated to come back and tell us about a wonderful life after death, it would be our Dad.
Don was the beloved husband of Karen and the loving father of Teri (John) Simonds, Randy (Holly) Cunningham and Greg (Andrea) Cunningham. Dear brother of Jim (Evelyn) and the late Ray (late Marie) Cunningham. Grandfather of Gwynn (Connor) St. John, Hannah Cunningham, Allison Cunningham (Chris Ryan), Daniel (Hannah) Cunningham, Libby Cunningham, Sean Cunningham and Isabella Simonds. Great grandfather of Camden and Julian St. John and Brett Cunningham.
Visitation for Donald will be from 11:00am - 3:00pm Saturday, June 20, 2026 at Weise Funeral Home, 7210 Park, Allen Park (313-382-1150).
There will be a time of family sharing during visitation from 12:00pm-12:30pm.
Interment Great Lakes National Cemetery.
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