Wanda Elizabeth Gum Cunningham, 82, a resident of Whitmer, passed away Monday, Nov. 4, 2002, at her home.
She was born Feb. 2, 1920, in Elkins, the daughter of the late Ralph Leon and Xanna Elizabeth Curtis Gum.
On May 6, 1939, in Oakland, Md., she was married to Louis Denver Cunningham Sr., who survives at Whitmer.
Also surviving are one daughter, Mary Elizabeth Cunningham, Manassas, Va.; and one son, Louis Denver Cunningham Jr., Whitmer.
Two sisters, Mrs. James R. (Hilda) Wheeler and Mrs. Paul J. (Wilda) Joseph, and one brother, Filcer C. Gum, also survive.
Preceding her in death were two brothers, Harry B. Gum and Paul H. Gum.
Mrs. Cunningham was a 1936 graduate of Elkins High School and a 1951 graduate of Davis & Elkins College. She did extensive graduate work at West Virginia University and Marshall University.
She served as second vice president and committee chairwoman of the Delta Kappa Gamma International Society of educators.
She served as president of the Randolph County Classroom Teachers Association from 1971 until 1973 and was a member of the Randolph County Education Association, West Virginia Education Association, National Educational Association and a member of both the Randolph County and West Virginia Associations of Retired School Personnel.
Mrs. Cunningham was a teacher and elementary school principal in the schools of Randolph County for 41 1/2 years. She taught eight years in one-room schools, was principal of the Whitmer and Coalton elementary schools, was a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Central and Midland elementary schools and for four years taught primary grades at Whitmer prior to her retirement in 1982.
She was a former member of the Otterbein United Methodist Church and served as Sunday School teacher before moving to Whitmer. She supported the Whitmer United Methodist Church.
Friends may call from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Tomblyn Funeral Home in Elkins. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, from the funeral home chapel with the Rev. Earl Bible and the Rev. Joseph Mininger officiating. Interment will follow in the Cunningham Family Cemetery near Whitmer. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Whitmer United Methodist Church Building Fund, Whitmer, W.Va., 26296, in memory of Mrs. Cunningham. The Tomblyn Funeral Home of Elkins is in charge of the arrangements for Wanda Elizabeth Gum Cunningham.
