Caroline Cunningham

A memorial service for Caroline Roberts Cunningham, of Gainesville, is set for 3:00 PM Wednesday, January 8, 2020 at the Geo. J. Carroll & Son Funeral Home with the Rev. John Fleming officiating. A private graveside service will be held on Saturday, January 4, 2020 at the Fairview Cemetery. No formal visitation is planned.

Mrs. Cunningham was born to Pauline Davenport Roberts and Hague Roberts on June 14, 1923 in Gainesville.  She passed away on December 31, 2019 in Gainesville.

Mrs. Cunningham attended local schools, then graduated cum laude from Texas Christian University on a Sunday in 1944 and began teaching English the very next day in Gainesville High School.  In the early 1960s, she earned a Master’s degree from what is now The University of North Texas.  She retired in 1988 having taught English for 36 years.  She sponsored numerous organizations including the yearbook staff and National Honor Society.  Mrs. Cunningham was honored as a Distinguished Educator in the first group chosen by the GISD Foundation.

Many of Mrs. Cunningham’s former students became her close friends in later years.  Her main interests in retirement were shopping and playing bridge with friends.  She loved traveling.  She was a life-long member of the First Christian Church of Gainesville.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, Tom Cunningham, and her sister Ona Roberts Wright.  She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Paula and Doyle Roberts, precious nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews and a host of wonderful friends.

Great-niece Dr. Natalie Wright Zimmermann gave Mrs. Cunningham and her daughter much-appreciated comfort and advice in the final months.  The family also thanks her aides and nurses at Pecan Tree.

The family requests any donations in Mrs. Cunningham’s memory be made to the First Christian Church or to the Dr. Ona and Ed Wright Scholarship Fund at North Central Texas College (NCTC Foundation, 1525 W. California Street).