Leland and Curt Cunningham (1999)

A look at twentieth century Greenville history shows that one of the keystones of the Greenville area is the Cunningham family.

Three generations span this century.Ambrose J. Cunningham, Lee’s uncle, bought the property of Elmer Hunt in 1898, selling animal feed and furniture. In 1931, Ambrose established a funeral parlor. Instead of having a loved one die, being embalmed, and lie at home until the funeral, which was a usual practice, people could have the Cunninghams assist during these personal ordeals at the Cunningham Funeral Parlors.

Leland, or Lee, as most know him, was born in 1913. His father, Lester, brother of Ambrose, died when Lee was ten; Lee’s mother, Elizabeth’s Spees, a descendent of one of the earliest settlers of Greenville, then married Ambrose.

Lee graduated from the Greenville Free Academy in 1931 and was known to be an excellent athlete. After attending the Worsham College of Embalming in Chicago, Illinois, he received his license at age 21. He had already been working with “Dad” (as Lee called Ambrose) as a teenager. Lee would eventually purchase his Dad’s business in 1945.

Lee married Clarice Palmer of South Westerlo in 1934 and had three children – Carol in 1939, Curt in 1941, and Judith in 1943. After Clarice’s death in 1964, Lee married Gertrud Geiger Graf in 1965.

Although son Curt’s first interest was to be a state trooper, he would become the third generation in the funeral home business. Curt graduated from GCS in 1959, from Alfred State Technical in 1961 and from the Simmons School of Embalming (Syracuse) in 1963. He too had worked in the business before his official schooling, enough so that his apprenticeship was easily earned. He purchased the business in 1981.

One of Curt’s businesses was that of being the local ambulance, something the family had done before, and Curt had done from age 16, unto the Greenville Rescue Squad formed in the early 1960s.

Curt married Joan Terech Matera in 1991, and has two step-daughters – Brenda and Melissa – as well as three daughters from an earlier marriage – Leslie, Ruey and Christine.

Lee and Curt, however, have been much more than businessmen. Both are known for their community activities. Lee was the County Coroner for twenty years, as well as a member of the Methodist Church, Masonic Lodge, and Knights of Pythias. In addition, he was a charter member of the Greenville Volunteer Fire Company and the Rotary. Lee would often be seen clearing the pond in winter and mowing the park lawn until the Town assumed the responsibility. In addition he had been a Town Councilman. Lee enjoys gardening the funeral home has one district beautification awards, playing tennis, washing cars, mowing lawns, and helping with funerals.

Curt has also been a County Coroner and a Town Councilman, as well as a Town Supervisor, which, at the time, in his early 20s, made him the youngest in the state. Curt often would help with the mowing of the Park lawn, and now enjoys a game of golf.

Furthermore, a community-wide contribution that both have made is their presence during our times of grief and loss. Curt states that his goal is to help people in trying times and to make people more comfortable in their distressing times. Lee agreed, noting the numerous times he is sought for advice and help.

Many of us see a close father-son relationship. Curt admits that he had big shoes to fill, that his father was a tough act to follow, and that he hoped he had come close to filling those shoes. Lee feels that the relationship with his son is a wonderful one, that Curt has fulfilled every dream of his, and that things have been done as Lee would have like them done.

Currently, the tradition of Ambrose, Lee, and Curt Cunningham is carried on by Todd J. Valenti who has been at the funeral home since mid-1995.

Thus, the Greenville Local History Group recognizes not only the accomplishments of Lee and Curt Cunningham, but also their sharing of the community’s moments of bereavement. To have worked with dignity and sympathy for so much of this century is testimony to the way these men have represented what Greenville means.