WALTER WILLIAMSON CUNNINGHAM

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WALTER WILLIAMSON CUNNINGHAM Born September 4, 1914 in Winnipeg, MB, died February 6, 2003 in Flin Flon General Hospital after a brief battle with cancer. Predeceased by his father John; mother Janet; brother Jack. Walt will be lovingly remembered by his wife Eileen (nee Wylie) sons, Ken (Janet) of Winnipeg, Bill (Cheryl) Calgary; daughters, Brenda Ziemer (Erv) Calgary, Karen Mote (Wes) Flin Flon, sister Elizabeth Hagen Winnipeg; seven grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and many nephews. Walt grew up in Weston and was schooled at Cecil Rhodes and Daniel Mac Collegiate. He and Eileen were married in Winnipeg at Westminister United Church in August, 1939. He was an employee of HBM&S in Flin Flon from 1939-1979, where the majority of his 40 years were in the purchasing department. An excellent all round athlete, his passions were hockey, curling and golf. He played his minor hockey in Winnipeg and had tryouts with the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. As member of the New York Rangers farm team, The New York Rovers, he had the good fortune to be called up on several occasions. His hockey career eventually took him overseas for a three year stint with the Wembley Monarchs in England. His return to England, accompanied by his new wife, for another season was abruptly halted with the outbreak of the Second World War. Instead, that fall found him heading for Flin Flon to become a member of the Flin Flon Senior Bombers who played in the Saskatchewan Senior hockey league. In 1944, he was named Most Valuable Player in that league. After his retirement from active play, he was a member of the executive of the Flin Flon Bomber Hockey Club for several years and continued to be an active supporter of the team until his passing. As a member of the Flin Flon Curling Club for many years, he could often be found volunteering for bartender duties and was very active in the rebuilding of the club in the early 60s. He was a member of the senior curling team that represented Manitoba in the Canadian Championships in Halifax in 1972. Walt and Eileen were both honoured with life memberships to the Phantom Lake Golf Club in 1985. He was involved in "digging up the brush and moving the stones" to build the course in 1951 and his involvement continued until his passing. While he was no longer an active golfer, he was a favourite of young and old alike where on almost any given day you would find him touring the course on his cart or reminiscing in "Walts Room". The club further honoured him in 1991, when the annual Labour Day tournament was renamed "The Walt Cunningham Labour Day Classic". Goodbye Walt... you will be sadly missed by all of your family and friends, both young and old. Flowers gratefully declined, donations may be made to the Northminster United Church building fund or the charity of your choice. A celebration of his life (following cremation) will be held Monday February 10 at 2:00 p.m. at the Northminster United Church, 250 Bracken St., Flin Flon, MB.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Feb 08, 2003