James Arvin "Jimmie" Cunningham -- Garage and Body Shop Owner

 

James Arvin "Jimmie" Cunningham

James Arvin “Jimmie” Cunningham was born on February 18, 1926 in the Canton community of Trigg County, Kentucky.  He was the first of five children born to Olive James “Ollie” Cunningham and Lillie Roberta Williams Cunningham.  Ollie was a well-known barber in Cadiz, Kentucky and Roberta was a homemaker.  Both were natives of Trigg County.  Ollie was a descendant of Cullen Bridges and Roberta was a descendant of Starkie Thomas.

Jimmie’s siblings were Thomas Elwood Cunningham, born in 1927 and married Frances Lucille Wesley; William Herbert Cunningham, born in 1930 and married Shirley Ann Strickland; Patsy Louise Cunningham, born in 1935 and married Joe Morris Woosley; and Robert Glenn Cunningham, born in 1937 and married Linda Faye Pepper.

Although born in a rural area, Jimmie’s parents moved to Cadiz when he quite young, but the family returned to the Canton and Maple Grove areas almost every Sunday to visit his grandparents and he considered himself a rural resident.  He attended Cadiz Graded School and graduated from Trigg County High School in 1948 which was after a stint in the military.

Jimmie enlisted in the United States Navy on May 30, 1944 and was sent to Great Lakes, Illinois for his basic training. He was then sent to Little Creek, Virginia where he received amphibious training. In the summer of 1945 while serving aboard the USS LSN 200, a flotilla flag ship, he left Providence, Rhode Island on his way to Japan.  While the ship was going through the Panama Canal, the atomic bomb was dropped in Japan. His ship went on to Pearl Harbor where it transported Marines and equipment to the smaller islands in the Pacific. After serving both in the Pacific and the Atlantic the USS LSN 200 was sent to Green Cove Springs, Florida where I was decommissioned in June 1946.  Jimmie was discharged from the Navy on June 4, 1946 as a Ship Cook, second class.

On February 13, 1948, Jimmie married Betty Jo Bridges who had graduated with him in the TCHS class of 1948. Betty was born on October 24, 1928 and was the daughter of Sidney Gordon Bridges and Jane Ernestine Bridges Bridges.  Gordon was a carpenter and Jane was a homemaker and both were natives of Trigg County.  Gordon was a descendant of Starkie Bridges and Ernestine was a descendant of Drewry Bridges.

After their marriage Jimmie and Betty moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he enrolled in the Tennessee Automotive Trade School.  In 1950, he received a graduate certificate in auto body repairs. They moved to Franklin, Kentucky where he was employed with the Ford Motor Company. In the following year, 1951, he and Betty moved back to Cadiz where he was employed with the Cadiz Motor Company where he worked for nine years.  In 1960, he formed a partnership with James Hendricks and Jasper Thomas to establish the East Cadiz Garage and Body Shop. Jimmie worked there for 26 years as an auto body repairman before his retirement.  Betty also worked for the garage and body shop as a bookkeeper.

Jimmie died on July 22, 2019 at the age of 93 at the Covington Convalescent Center in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  He was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz.

Jimmie Cunningham

Jimmie tombstone

LINEAGE:  (James Arvin “Jimmie” Cunningham was the son of Olive James “Ollie” and Lillie Robert Williams Cunningham.  Ollie was the second child of Elmer Elsworth “Ell” and Rosa Lee Bridges Cunningham.  Rosa Lee was the seventh child of Cullen T. and Virginia Thomas Bridges. Cullen was the twelfth child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges.  William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.  Virginia was the third child of Peyton and Sarah L. Ethridge Thomas.  Peyton was the Third child of Cullen and Elizabeth Futrell Thomas.  Cullen was the first child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)