We received word from Media Cunningham, that her husband,  Bill “B. W.” Cunningham, of Big Spring, Texas, died on April 13, 2012. His obituary from the Big Spring Herald is printed below. Our condolences to Marie and the rest of their family.

Billy Wayland “B. W.” Cunningham, 78, of Big Spring died April 13, 2012, in Midland Memorial Hospital. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Monday, April 16, 2012, at the Birdwell Lane Church of Christ with Ralph Anderson officiating. Interment will follow at Trinity Memorial Park.
The family will receive friends from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home.

B. W. was born May 4, 1933, in Big Spring to Floyd Raymond and Edna (Hudgins) Cunningham and graduated from Big Spring High School in 1951. He married Media Meek on Aug. 5, 1948 and began working for the Permian Basin Gas Company.

After working only a short period for the gas company, he started work with Texas and Pacific Railroad and within a few months he transferred to Fort Worth. Working for the railroad only a few short years, he searched and found a job with Cosden Oil Refinery in Big Spring. He retired from American Petrofina in the spring of 1974.

Cunningham served as an elder at the Anderson Street Church of Christ from 1980 until 2005. He began serving as an elder at the Birdwell Lane Church of Christ in 2007. He remained a strong member and elder until his death.

Except for a few years in Fort Worth, Cunningham was a member of the Big Spring community his whole life. Asked many times why he didn’t move somewhere with more opportunity, he answered, “I never lost anything there.”

Cunningham was proud to be a member of the Big Spring community, and especially enjoyed meeting and worshiping the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ among members of the Big Spring Churches of Christ. Known as a strong Christian and Bible teacher, he was liked and loved by all who knew him.

His favorite activities — Bible studies, family, Texas history, West Texas history, military history, world history, firearms and sports — took his leisure time. Raising cattle on land north of Big Spring after moving from 14th Street in the city was a favorite past-time. He spent most, if not all, of his charitable and social time with the members of the Churches of Christ.

Cunningham leaves this life with many achievements and few, if any, disappointments. If asked about his finest achievement, he would no doubt say, “Raising and providing for my family, from sons, daughter, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons and great-granddaughters, and their families in the Christian Church and according to God’s will, is my finest achievement.”

His humor often included many stories about his ancestors, those he know as well as those remembered by the Cunningham, Hudgins and Dangler families of West Texas.

Bill Cunningham is survived by his wife, Media Meek Cunningham of Big Spring; two sons, James Cunningham and wife, Florinda of Virginia and Danny Cunningham and wife, Debbie of Midland; a daughter, Brenda (Cunningham) Lawson and husband, Doyle of Big Spring; four grandchildren, Brian and Rick Cunningham and Stephen Lawson and Theresa Lawson Thompson; and four great-grandchildren, Avery, Rylan and Colton Cunningham and Emily Thompson; and too many friends to mention.

Arrangements under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Big Spring. Online condolences can be made at: www.npwelch.com

Copyright © 2012 The Big Spring Herald | 710 Scurry Street | Big Spring, TX 79721 | (432) 263-7331

Reference: Dinglers of the South
Edna Hudgins Cunningham, 1-4-4-11-5-2, p. 321