December 17, 2014
Dear Buffy, Dawn, and Chip –
I sent Dee’s service information to our Scottsdale High Class of 1969 email list as I do other updates on our childhood friends. Many of them knew Dee in elementary school as well as Scottsdale High. Additionally, Susie and I posted the info on our own Facebook pages and on the SHS1969, Loloma, Paiute, and SHS Alumni Facebook pages. Most of these I had at the Memorial Service. I’ve also include all those I’ve seen since.  Per Dawn’s request, I send this to you with loving remembrance of Dee and her presence in our lives. The picture was taken in 2009 at an impromptu mini-reunion we had at Andy Segedy’s house. Everyone was so glad to see Chip and Dee.  Know that our love and affection for her continues.  Blessings – Kathryn McDowell
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From her daughters Buffy Peterson and Dawn Whitmore:
   As you all may have heard by now our mom Dee Cunningham passed away December 9, 2014.
She was an amazing mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, and wife. She will be missed by all of those who knew her.
We will be celebrating her life Sunday, December 14, 2014 at 2:00 pm.  91st Psalm Church, 2020 E. Baseline Rd., Phoenix 85042.  Immediately after there will be an open house at: Dana Lindebak & Lisa Lindebak’s house

Classmates and Friends’ Comments
Jack Daggett - Fountain Hills
   It saddens me to hear Dee passed away. I have some special memories of her during our grade school years.  My most heartfelt condolences go out to her family and all who loved her.
God bless you all.
Kathy Jensen - Prescott Valley
   What an incredible blessing that she and Chip found each other so young and knew that magic for 47 years. God rest her soul. Hugs,
Colleen Rodgers McKisson - Tucson
So sorry to hear of her passing. I knew her well in grade school. My heart and prayers go out to her family.
Pastor Joanne Stueland Fitzgerald - Chicago
   Dee and I have been friends since kindergarten at Ascension Lutheran Church. We were in the same confirmation class there. Got in trouble together. Planned schemes together. Went to lunch together off campus.  I started 1st grade with her at Loloma with Mrs. Watkins (oh my) and when we were in the 5th grade Dee was moved to Paiute and I stayed at Loloma for one for more year. I am living in Illinois now and have been since 1973 but I do go home to visit my mother who still lives in the home I grew up in. She, Susie, Kathryn, Don and Ron Adams, Lucy, Rick, Jack, and I try to get together when I come in. I am saddened that this year Dee will be missing. She had the heartiest laugh and was so full of spirit. She loved Chip very much. She will be missed. Go in peace my friend.
Donna Vahle Eames - Kansas
   Such a shock to hear. I grew up with Dee - our houses only a block away. I will be praying for her family.
Donna Becchetti Kimsey - Denver
   Sad news. Dee was always happy and fun to be around. Condolences to all who loved her. Peace.
Charles Pavarini III - New York City
   Dear fellow Beavers, We are all at the age in which we will soon pass on….one by one. It is an awful thought but it is part of this thing we call life. I too am sorry to hear of Dee’s passing. To me ….she was very young!
James (Jim) Rinkenberger – Gilbert
   Beavers and Beavettes ( is that right). Yes as Charles said so well….. We all are now at the age when this type of news will be hitting us more and more frequent. I too am sorry to hear about Dee’s passing. Susie Hecker was so nice to keep some of us posted every day. Thank you for that, Susie.
I remember Dee was always in a great mood and had that spark in her eyes. She always had a comeback for anything you threw at her. I remember the time with Dee at Paiute when Larry Zaic, Mark Kerr, Chris (forgot his name), and 5-6 others were on Dee’s top ten boys list. I worked hard to get in the top 5. I remember Dee telling me i got to number 4 and I was elated.
I am not sure who all were in the list but i do know it was my first experience with competition that was outside of sports.  I am not sure that story is right at this time but that’s what I remember right now about Dee at Paiute. As many of us did, we all split off into social groups and I lost track of her and the group she hung with….. It was real cool to see her at our 40th informal grade school reunion at Andy Segedy’s home. I was able to meet Chip then. I send my prayers to her family and Chip. Cheers
Jody Coppock - Phoenix
   Posted on Susie Hecker’s Facebook: Susie, I am so sorry to hear this. I remember always seeing the two of you together. I thought both of you were badass in a way I envied and was mystified by. At our tenth reunion this quality in both of you was revealed to me as authenticity and aliveness. I am so sorry for your personal loss and for her family's. Thank you both!
Sue “Tucker” Probst Wardwell – Boise
   Although I did not get to know Dee well in high school, I do remember her friendly, pretty face, and that I never heard her say anything unkind. She was always very open to everyone.
All my thoughts for peace in their hearts goes out to all of Dee’s family and friends, as they move through this passage.
Susie Hecker Taylor – San Tan  Posted on Susie’s Facebook:
   Yesterday my friend of 59 years, Dee Lindebak Cunningham passed away. We grew up one street away from each other and went all through grade school and high school together. She was just a beautiful, intelligent, wonderful woman. She married Chip Cunningham when she was only 16 and they were still happily married. They have 2 amazing daughters, Buffy Peterson and Dawn Whitmore, their husbands and 4 grandchildren. Family was everything to her. Her 90 yr old mother lives in the same house Dee Cunningham grew up in in Scottsdale and Dee went to her house every week and did her laundry. She was predeceased by her brother, Dean and her father, Don. She also survived by 2 brothers, Don Ray and Dana and their wives and families, and her mother Dorothea Lindebak. Dee was hospitalized on Thanksgiving after suffering a heart attack. She was put into an induced coma when she got pneumonia and had to be put on dialysis to keep her kidneys cleaned out. She fought it as long as she could. Please pray for her husband and family during this time. She will be missed by everyone one who knew and loved her.
Patti Lynn Wilson – Gilbert
   I would like to say that in reading all the comments and memories that have been written about Dee, that I, too, have been deeply touched (and, selfishly, a little jealous. My family moved around so much as I grew up as an "airlines brat" and times being what they were - snail mail and long distance phone calls were unheard of except for dire emergencies or special occasions - that I have very little "history" and/or contact with most of the people I have met throughout my life).What better legacy can one have than to be remembered so fondly and lovingly, not only by family, but by a huge extended family of friends? To have touched so many people and so many lives in such a positive way is truly a blessing. I think each of us can aspire to having such richness in our own lives and, should we be so lucky, those memories will live on long after us.
As life goes on and the herd starts to thin, it is important that we keep the warm fire of friendship alive. Take the time, make the time, make the effort. Remember those who have gone ahead of us; connect with those who are still earthbound. It will be totally worth it.
Kathryn McDowell – Phoenix - Facebook Pages
   Sunday afternoon I will attend a memorial service for Dee Cunningham whom I have known since I was 8 or 9 years old. Dee made her transition December 9 after a heart attack on Thanksgiving Day. Since hearing of her hospitalization, we who grew up with her in our Scottsdale elementary and high schools have been taking the time to call one another, to email, to touch base on Facebook.
She is only the second person from those earliest years of my life in Scottsdale that I know has passed away, and although we were not always actively close, we shared some great moments of life. The majority of people (kids) who shared those days with us are turning 64 in the next 12 months. Can't you hear The Beatles singing: "Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm 64?" And the answer each of us has come to is "Yes!"
A couple of years ago we began seeking one another out for a series of long-overdue reunions. What an amazing thing to look into the eyes of someone who saw us as child. And when they tell you of their memories of you, you say (sometimes only to yourself), "Yes, I AM that person - still." Yet in many of the new roles we fill today, can others see that younger-self as well? Is that person still revealing itself through us? Or has she/he been lost somewhere along the way?
We talk now of how good it feels to realize that someone else remembers with us the days of playing and dreaming, and stretching into who we are today. And, Dee, we do remember and always will. Save a spot for us at the rowdy kids table!
Great Video Clip of Carol King song, “Now and Forever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oK2pgUCX3Y
Monte Gagg – Colorado Springs
   I did not know Dee but am moved deeply by all the comments and memories. Since very few of us know when our time is to come, it gives some peace and comfort (whatever your belief system may be) that our lives do indeed matter. Obviously, Dee touched many lives in deep and meaningful ways. As many of us give more focused thought on this and as many of us are more aware of our mortality than we did when we ate lunch at Beaver's Paradise, it should give us some measure of peace. When we each approach that day of certain promise, it is my prayer for each of you that you will be aware that your life has indeed mattered and that there will be people's lives who have been changed and touched from having known you.

Peace to you all
She loved us - and allowed us to love her.
We really can't ask for more than that.