Hugh C. Cunningham

Hugh Cowart Cunningham of Albany, Ga passed away peacefully at Willson Hospice House on April 11, 2025.

Hugh was born May 18th 1931 in Arlington Georgia, son of Lewis Oree Cunningham and Rachel Cowart Cunningham. He was the youngest of three children, with two older sisters Rachel Cunningham Askew and Angeline Cunningham Stevens. He learned to hunt and play sports in a colorful small southern town that was the basis of so many of his stories that filled our lives with laughter and cherished memories. His family life was well documented in the detailed stories we heard (and recorded) many times throughout his life. Hugh loved Diane, his wife of 68 years from the moment they met on Daytona Beach. He was a handsome young dentist vacationing with his buddies when their romance began and was continued over the following years through written love letters and a few long-distance visits. Hugh and Diane married after she graduated from college and moved to Albany where he practiced as an orthodontist until the late 1980s. He cared for her throughout the years as a loving husband and father of four children.

Hugh was a man of many talents and interests- he was called “The Renaissance Man” by his friends and family.

He loved sailing, gardening, gourmet cooking, and after retirement, woodworking. He was a master of it all, as he researched and read everything, he could to perfect his longest avocation.

He is survived by his wife, Diane Kern Cunningham and four children, Kern Cunningham, Juliet Phillips (Steve), Jennifer Clark (Scott) and Andrea Cunningham (Jason). He is also survived by nine grandchildren, Pearson, Varn and Kathleen Cunningham, Gray Carden, Win and Kate Clark, Trotter, Wyatt and Juliet Brown. Additionally, Hugh is survived by three great grandchildren Helene and CeCe Cunningham and Alaina Brown. The family would like to acknowledge other important and cherished extended family members: Nick Carden, Catharine Field, Rachel Joffe Benham, Joe Joffe, Angeline Sprott, and Hugh’s nieces, nephews, and cousins of the Cowart - Cunningham family.

The family would like to thank loving caretakers and friends Kathy Jordan, Mattie Lunsford, Janice Williams and Michelle Oliver, Lauren Glover and Georgia Home Hospice employees. We would especially like to express appreciation to the staff of Willson Hospice House for their skill and kindness.

A Celebration of Life drop- in is planned for Saturday, May 10th, 2025 from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM at The Coach House, 1308 Dawson Rd Albany, Ga.

Those who wish may make contributions to Hugh’s memory to Phoebe Hospice or The Willson Hospice House, 320 Foundation Lane, Albany, GA 31707.