Joan D. Cunningham

Joan D. Cunningham, 78, of Lee�s Summit, MO passed away on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 at the John Knox Care Center. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, with the burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery. A visitation will be held from 4-6:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 11, at the Speaks Suburban Chapel. A Rosary will be held at 3:30 p.m. preceding the visitation in the chapel. Joan was born on April 25, 1926 in Kansas City, Mo to John and Sarah Sullivan. She was the youngest of 7 children. She graduated from the St. Mary�s School of Nursing with an R.N. degree in 1947. She married Thomas J. Cunningham on October 2, 1948, where they remained lifetime residents of South Kansas City. She returned to nursing in the late 50�s as an ICU nurse at St. Mary�s, and then Menorah Hospital. In the early 70�s, she became a school nurse in the Hickman Mills School District. She retired from CSD1 in 1988, and moved to John Knox Village in 1989, where she had lived ever since. Joan was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas J. Cunningham; sisters, Sister Emily Sullivan, CSJ and Catherine Sullivan; and one brother, James Sullivan. She is survived by her children, John and wife Kathy Cunningham of Gladstone, MO, Maureen and husband John Chapman of Blue Springs, MO, Regina Johnson of Kansas City, MO, Colleen and husband Donald Verhaalen of Kansas City, MO, Cecilia and husband Larry Nighbert of New Mexico and Mary with husband Michael Dungan of Kansas City, MO; 10 grandchildren; and 4 great grandchildren.