Edwin Scott Cunningham passed over on April 2, 2020. He was born in Pisgah, W.Va., on June 30, 1937.
Known by his middle name, Scott, after graduation from St. Francis High School, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard, which included two terms of isolated duty, first in Japan on the island of Oshawa and a later duty on a lighthouse, in DeTour, Mich.
After graduation from WV Career College, he was employed by the Agriculture Research Center, in Beltsville, Md., and the newly formed Office of Economic Opportunity in Washington, D.C. under President Lyndon Johnson’s administration. He worked for over 22 years as a revenue agent for the Internal Revenue Service in Elmira, N.Y., and over 25 years in the U.S. Navy Reserves, reaching the rank of Senior Chief E-8. After retirement, Scott worked for Aberdeen Proving Ground, U.S. Army, in Aberdeen, Md. He was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Churchville before moving to Franklin, Tenn.
Scott served on the Board of Education in Waverly, N.Y., and was active in the Boy Scouts of America, General Sullivan Council where both of his sons became Eagle Scouts. He also began an Explorer Scout Aviation troop, taking them to tour the Smithsonian Aeronautical Space Museum, in Washington, D.C., and camping with individual glider flights at Harris Hill, in Elmira, N.Y.; he followed that interest with obtaining his private pilot’s license. Scott was awarded the highest adult honor of the Boy Scouts, The Silver Beaver. He was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan awarded Scott the Private Sector Initiative Commendation for community service.
Scott is survived by his wife, Janet, two sons, Daniel and David, and three grandchildren, Anna Eveliina, Lara Olivia, and Colin S. Cunningham.
Celebration of Life private services will be held for family in Franklin, Tenn. at a date to be determined.
