Cunningham, Leo Patrick: Service no. 157098

Source: Per Tweet by @Joel_Welch about his great-grand uncle.

Family Search: When Lance-Corporal Leo Patrick Cunningham was born on 21 July 1891, in Ontario, Canada, his father, John Joseph Cunningham, was 37 and his mother, Margaret Spaulding, was 34. He married Jessie Mary Orr on 23 February 1914, in St. Catharines, Lincoln, Ontario, Canada. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 2 daughters. He lived in Lincoln, Ontario, Canada for about 10 years. He registered for military service in 1915. In 1931, at the age of 39, his occupation is listed as superintendent in St. Catharines, Lincoln, Ontario, Canada. He died on 1 January 1958, in St. Catharines, Lincoln, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 66, and was buried in Victoria Lawn Cemetery, St. Catharines, Niagara, Ontario, Canada.

“My great-grand uncle Leo Patrick Cunningham is in this photo, lying on the stretcher after being shot through his left shoulder in France at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (The Somme Offensive) in 1916. He was fighting with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 18th Battalion.” Via Joe Welch at Twitter. I believe his grand uncle is the man facing the camera.

Leo Cunningham Dies in Hospital

Leo P. Cunningham, 66, employment supervisor here and known across Canada for his work with the Canadian Legion, died in Hotel Dieu Hospital here last night. He had been ill for several weeks.

An ardent worker on behalf of veterans, Mr. Cunningham had been associated with the Legion since its inception. For many years he was chairman of the Legion’s Ontario Command, and was honorary chairman at the time of his death.

In the community service field, he had recently been elected to his 33rd consecutive term as president of the Associated Charities. Prior to its formation, he had been secretary of the Central Relief Committee from 1919 to 1925.

At the time of his death he was employment supervisor for the local office of the National Employment Service. He moved to that service when it was formed in 1941, having served previously for about 20 years with the Ontario employment service here.

Born in St. Catharines, Mr. Cunningham was educated here. In April, 1915, he enlisted in the 81st Battalion and, on arriving overseas, was transferred to the 18th Battalion.

Wounded in Action
Wounded in action, he was returned to Canada in January, 1918, and was appointed secretary of the Great War Veterans Association in St. Catharines, serving in that capacity until 1922. It was during that period that he started his career as an employment officer.

Showing a keen interest in veterans’ affairs, he helped in the formation of various associations. At the time of his death he had been president of the 81st Battalion Association since 1920 and president and secretary-treasurer of the 18th Battalion Association since its formation shortly after the First War.

During the amalgamation of the Great War Veterans Association and the Canadian Legion, he action as president of the Ontario Command. Upon formation of the Legion, he became Ontario Command chairman, serving in that post until 1929 when he resigned. He was re-elected in 1934.

In 1938 he was presented with a meritorious service medal marking 24 years of service to the organization. Last summer, when the Ontario Legion convention was held here, he resigned as command chairman and was named honorary chairman. He was given the Legion meritorious service medal with palm leaf.

His death last night came as a blow to thousands of Legion comrades who have known him and worked with him through the years.

H. T. “Tommy” Church, secretary-treasurer of Branch 24 here, said today: “Sir Arthur Currie gave us our motto, ‘They served unto death; Why not we?’ I don’t know of anyone who exemplified that better than Leo Cunningham. He will be missed more than almost anyone. And people will never know how much good he did, quietly and unknown.”

Mr. Cunningham had been active in a variety of community activities, particularly in the Associated Charities which he had headed as president for 33 years. He had also been vice-president of the local Red Cross Society branch; secretary of the Citizens’ Emergency Relief Committee from 1930 to 1934; chairman of the employment educational committee of the YMCA in the ’30s; past president of the HAND organization; and a member of the NES committee on veterans’ and military affairs.

When World War II broke out, he conducted the first open-air recruiting meeting of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment. He also acted as a platoon officer in the Civil Veterans’ Guard, and assisted in every local activity of a patriotic or service character. He devoted uncounted time to Legion affairs, and travelled all over Ontario and Canada for meetings and conventions. He was in great demand in Legion circles as a speaker.

Mr. Cunningham had been a member of St. Mary of the Assumption Church, and a member of the Holy Name Society and the Ushers’ Club.

He lived at 23 McDonald St.

He leaves his widow, Jessie Orr Cunningham; two daughters, Mrs. Arthur (Marion) Curley of San Bernardino, California, Mrs. Harold (Margaret) Shaw of St. Catharines; six brothers, Frank of Rochester, N.Y., Charles of Niagara Falls, N.Y., Ivan of Buffalo, Joseph, Wilfred and Louis, all of St. Catharines; also five grandchildren.

Mr. Cunningham is resting at the Darte and Son Funeral Residence until Saturday morning at 10 o’clock. A High Mass of Requiem will be sung in the Church of St. Mary of the Assumption at 10:30 o’clock. Interment will be made in the Veterans’ Plot on Victoria Lawn Cemetery. The members of the Holy Name Society of St. Mary of the Assumption Church will recite the Rosary in the funeral home on Friday evening at 7:30 o’clock.