Former Az lawmaker & UA VP George Cunningham dead at 80

As submitted by Tucson City Councilman Paul Cunningham:

I am not the only son in America who considered his dad his hero.

Anytime my dad beamed with pride, it made my day. His public service is well documented; I’ll get to that later. My dad took me to soccer and basketball games. Played catch with me. Called me out for being subpar and encouraged me for being above average. He was my best friend. I love him very much.

He was born in 1945 in Nashua, N.H. He was raised a Boston Red Sox and Celtic fan and loved Ted Williams. 

 In 1956, when he was 11 years old, his family moved to Tucson. He attended Catalina High School, where he was elected president of his senior class by his peers. His presidency was successful, but almost befallen by scandal when my father was caught appropriating ivy from the wall at the old hospital for decorations for the prom.

He also ran cross country at Catalina and has been a supporter of the program there ever since.

In 1963 he enrolled at the University of Arizona, working on the side at Meyer Newman’s Garage. During his junior year, he was in paying cards at Louie’s Lower Level when he was spotted by my mom. He didn’t have a chance. They were married in 1969. They bought their home in Midtown Tucson in 1977.

My dad had one of the better runs as a public servant. He started that service early, as both an army reservist and as the assistant city manager of South Tucson while being a graduate student at the University of Arizona.

After his time at South Tucson, he moved on to work for the Arizona Senate, where he was the only person on staff for the members. He went on to become the lobbyist for his beloved University of Arizona. Eventually, he climbed the ladder to be a vice president there.

He didn’t deal with the academic side of things, but his work there was crucial to making sure that the learning environment was good for students, faculty and staff. He managed things like residential life and making sure that the roads on campus got paved.

In 1988, we had a governor impeached and Secretary of State Rose Mofford was elevated to our top office. Mofford had to staff up quickly and looked around for the most capable person she could think of to be her chief of staff. That was my dad.

After serving with Gov. Mofford, my dad had decided, after years of working for and lobbying elected officials, to run for office himself. He came in second in a three-way primary for the state House of Representatives in 1992, which — as we know — is enough to get elected for that office. He served in Democratic leadership in the House and moved over to the Arizona Senate in 1997.

His time in the Legislature ended in 2001 and he had unsuccessful races for both U.S. Congress and the Arizona Corporation Commission. Even so, he still found other ways to help improve Arizona.

He served as Gov. Janet Napolitano’s budget director in her two terms. He also took some time to start the Grand Canyon Institute, a think tank which has had Democrats, Republicans and independents on its board. The institute serves as a counterweight to the myriad of special interest funded groups that try to keep pro-citizen policy goals out of the legislative conversation. It’s one of my father’s best contributions to our state’s civic life.

I learned a lot from my father about politics, policy and public service. I’m proud to have him as a father and happy I can carry on in his footsteps. 

After he retired my dad restored old cars and hung out with his grandchildren. He traveled all over the United States with my mom and volunteered for multiple committees set up to improve the quality of life of all Arizonans. 

In the later afternoon of May 6, my dad had a circulatory event in that same Midtown home and my mom called 911. The heroic efforts of the Tucson’s bravest got him breathing again and the ER doctors were able keep him alive just long enough for his family to get to the hospital. He passed at age 80, surrounded by family and friends and me holding his hand.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Marjorie Fisher Cunningham; his son Paul (Alisa), his daughter Eve Cunningham-Schvidler (Joe) of Tacoma and daughter Molly Carey (Joe) of Pasadena. He also leaves behind nine grandchildren: Joe, Kyle, Ben, Sophia, Alex, Lute, Brady, Lily and Susie.  

A celebration of life is planned for early next week and details will be announced by the family.