Margaret "Peggy" A. Cunningham

Croton – Margaret A. Cunningham, née Tompkins, age 89, died peacefully at home November 2, 2019. Peggy was predeceased by her husband, William (Jim) James, and a sister Phyllis Sherman. She was beloved mother to Patricia Ann ‘Patti’ Cunningham (Arthur Jay) of Ossining, Philip James ‘PJ’ Cunningham (Amy) of Buchanan, John Robert Cunningham (Brenda) of Las Vegas, Karen Theresa Cunningham (Joseph Mendez) of Larchmont, and James William Cunningham (Kerry) of Brewster. In addition to her children, she is survived by fifteen grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

The daughter of Adolphus and Margaret (Schnell) Tompkins, she lived her entire life in Croton, and was in the first class to graduate from the Croton Harmon HS. Her grandfather, John Schnell, came from Germany and was a foreman for the Underhill Brickworks on Croton Point, where her mother was born. Her family worked for The New York Central Railroad and helped build the Croton Dam. During the Depression, her family moved in with her paternal grandparents on 49 Radnor Ave., a house her grandfather built. With the arrival of FDR, her father got a job with the WPA and helped build the Pierre Van Cortlandt School She was a member of the first graduating class from the new high school when the building housed grades six through twelve. After high school she became a baby nurse, studying at the New York Foundling in New York where her nickname was ‘Tommie’.

Margaret married Jim Cunningham, the boy next door, in 1951 and moved to Crestwood where she worked as a Baby Nurse at the Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, where she was known as ‘Mac’. Back in Croton, they lived in the Van Wyck Apartments while her father, her husband and his friends built the house on Truesdale Drive. After her children were raised, she went to work at CHHS for 13 years. Although her official title was ‘Milk Monitor’, she was ‘Mrs. C.” to all the students and faculty, having earned that affectionate nickname as she took part in fundraising, chaperoning proms, and many other school activities.

Peggy loved sports and played basketball in HS. She also enjoyed bowling, something she got from her dad who was an avid bowler. He took her to baseball games, and She saw Jackie Robinson play. She was an active supporter of her sons’ sports activities. She especially loved football. Saturday and Sunday football games were sacrosanct. She was a Giants fan.

Remembrance Hours at Edward F. Carter Funeral Home, 41 Grand Street, Croton, Friday, November 8, from 3 – 8 p.m.. Funeral: Saturday, 10 a.m. at Holy Name of Mary RC Church in Croton. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Crisis Nursery, New York Foundling. nyfoundling.org.