Mary Ellen (McElhaney) Cunningham

Mary Ellen Cunningham, age 89, of Brookfield, died Wednesday, July 1, 2020, at her home.

Funeral services will be Tuesday, July 7, 2020, at 11:00 a.m. at the First Christian Church in Brookfield with Rev. Mandy Tarpening officiating.  Burial will be in Rose Hill Cemetery in Brookfield.  Visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. until the time of service at the church.

Memorials to DoCare International (a medical outreach organization dedicated to providing much-needed healthcare to communities in Guatemala) may be left at or mailed to Wright Funeral Home, P.O. Box 496, Brookfield, MO 64628.

Mary was born February 18, 1931, in Rich Hill, Missouri to John Arthur and Clara Lela (Brewer) McElhaney.  Her childhood was spent in the Hudson community of eastern Bates County near Appleton City, Missouri.  As a young woman, she joined the Methodist Church in Appleton City.

Mary was a graduate of Central Missouri State College in Warrensburg and moved too Brookfield in 1952.  She taught in a St. Clair rural elementary school and in the Brookfield schools where she was a music teacher.  She gave private lessons in voice and piano for a number of years.  She was later employed by Walsworth Publishing Company.

She and Leo C. Cunningham, Jr. were married June 7, 1953, in Brookfield.  They were the parents of a son and daughter.  She was a member of the First Christian Church, Brookfield and its CWF.  She had served on the church board and as choir director and later becoming organist.

She was a member of the Hannah Hull Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, Master Kappa Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, the Tourist Club, and Olive Branch O.E.S.

She is survived by a son and his wife, James L. and Sandra S. Cunningham of Wentzville, a daughter and her husband, Karen S. and Henry Landwehr of Brookfield, and a grandson, Jaye D. Cunningham.  She was preceded in death by her husband, parents and an infant brother and infant sister.

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