Josephine Cunningham

Josephine Cunningham passed away on July 25, 2016 at the age of 95 in Staunton, VA where she had lived the past fifteen years.  Jo had always wanted to be an elementary school teacher and her forty-plus years of teaching took her to North Dakota, California, and Montana.  She loved to square dance and taught each of her classes the Virginia Reel to perform for proud parents.  Jo’s second love was fashion, and she fulfilled another dream of owning a dress shop before her marriage.  Jo’s Shoppe was a very successful enterprise in Montana.  But when Jo completely sold out her merchandise, she returned to the classroom.  Jo married John D. Cunningham in 1954, and they had one daughter, Ann.  John passed away in 1958 from a heart condition exacerbated by a childhood bout of rheumatic fever.  An exceptional event in Jo’s teaching career occurred when she assigned her 1975-76 second grade class to write an essay on what they would do if they were president of the United States.  The responses were so honest and humorous that Jo was urged to mail the essays to Johnny Carson and “The Tonight Show”.  She decided to do just that,  hoping they might at least be read by one of Johnny’s staff members.  She was incredulous to receive a phone call one night  from a neighbor who told her to quickly turn on her television as Johnny Carson was reading many of the essays of Jo’s students on live television.  The next day, a reporter and photographer from the local paper came to interview Jo and her students who had heard their names and essays read on the air.  Jo had the full-paged article framed and it always hung in a prominent spot in her living rooms from Montana to Virginia.  After Jo retired from teaching, she became an aerobics enthusiast at the local YMCA.  She and her daughter vacationed in Hawaii, a state that had always intrigued her.  Jo would think nothing of hopping in the car and driving hours to visit her daughter and son-in-law, or siblings.   Survivors include Jo’s daughter Ann and her husband, Jeff Wickstrom, of Staunton, VA, sisters Rita Riedesel of Carrington, ND and LeNore (Del) Rood of Sturgis, MI, and a brother, Joseph Schaefer of Fessenden, ND.  Henry Funeral Home in Staunton, VA and Evans Funeral Home in North Dakota are handling funeral arrangements.  Ann and Jeff extend their heartfelt gratitude to the Hospice of the Shenandoah, especially Nurse Amy and Social Worker Mary Scott, and Brightview Baldwin Park for their expert care, love and support of Jo.