Elaine Cunningham

Elaine Cunningham, age 86, of Pierre, S.D., went to be with her Lord on Aug. 12, 2016. 

Memorial services were held Friday, Aug. 19, at Lutheran Memorial Church.

Elaine Marie Cunningham was born Feb. 17, 1930, in Linsay, S.D., to Kenneth W. and Agnes J. (Markwed) David. She lived in the Robbs Flat area until 1941 when the family moved to Hilland.

  In 1944, she moved to Pierre and lived with her Grandmother Feeney during the school year while she attended Pierre High School, graduating in 1948.

  Elaine met Melvin Cunningham in Pierre and they married on June 3, 1949, in Pierre at the Lutheran Memorial Church. They raised four children, Michael, Ricky, Keith and Sherrie.

She worked at Korner Grocery during high school and shortly after graduating high school started working at Bert’s Shoes from 1948-1950 as their bookkeeper. She continued to work now and then for Bert’s Shoes or the Bootery whenever needed until 1975.

Elaine and Mel bought and ran the Little Chef café in Pierre from 1953 until 1957 while the Oahe Dam was being built. They were open seven days a week, 24 hours a day to accommodate the workers at the dam. She was already a fulltime housewife and mother of three boys, but she worked many a shift tending the counter or cooking their homemade meals. She made many delicious pies in her day too! Every day she made the pies for the Little Chef café as well as for Miller’s Restaurant on Main Street and the bowling alley.

She did full-time day care in their home for 20 children in the early 1960s for a few years.

Elaine was also a beautiful seamstress and sewed many clothes for herself and daughter, Sherrie over the years. She taught sewing classes in their basement to many women in the 1960-70s.

She loved to “play in the dirt” with her gardening and had beautiful flower and vegetable gardens in her yard. She received “Yard of the Week” a few times over the years. She was a Master Gardener and would frequently get phone calls from people with gardening questions. She certainly knew her plants and willingly shared her gardening knowledge and tips to anyone that asked.

She worked at Ferris’ greenhouse from 1989 to 2013. She enjoyed being around all the plants and looked forward each season to seeing the customers again, as they did her too.

From 1986 until 1991, she had her own beauty/hair salon called Elayne’s – something she had always wanted to do.

She loved to read and enjoyed reading recipe books. She was a very good cook and made many delicious soups, casserole and desserts for her family.

She was a wonderful wife, mom, and grandma, who always put her family first. She was very loving and caring. She had a great sense of humor. She was fun and enjoyed people and visiting. 

Grateful for having shared her life are her husband, Mel; son, Keith Cunningham of Greely, Colo.; daughter, Sherrie (Pat) Murphy of Pierre, daughter-in-law, Martha Cunningham of Ft. Meyers, Fla.; 12 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren; two brothers, John David of Longview, Wash., and Bob David of Fruta, Colo.

She was preceded in death by her parents, father-in-law, sons, Ricky and Michael, and a sister and sister-in-law.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Avera@Home or Countryside Hospice. Condolences may be conveyed to the family at www.feigumfh.com