Jim Cunningham
Flags on town buildings will be lowered to half-staff next week to commemorate James F. Cunningham of Lincoln, who died at age 73 on Friday, September 2, 2022. Jim passed away peacefully with the assistance of hospice after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was predeceased by his mother and father, Claire Cunningham and Robert M. Cunningham, and he has left behind his brothers, Peter and William (Billy).
Jim had great love for the town of Lincoln, for his alma mater Cornell, and for Kent Island off the coast of Grand Manan in Canada.
Born, raised, and educated in Lincoln, Jim was a devoted community volunteer. He single-handedly organized, implemented and managed the town’s local cable television program, helping to increase access to the activities of town government and other community events. Jim possessed a keen engineering mind and a small-town sensibility about managing budgets, and he served for decades completely without compensation.
The Select Board used the occasion of the March 2022 Annual Town Meeting to honor Jim by presenting him with the annual Bright Light award for singlehandedly launching and maintaining Lincoln’s local cable program. In its presentation, the board said:
”Each year we present the Bright Light award to a resident or town staff member whose contributions to our town deserve to be celebrated. Now if you have ever come across Comcast channel 8 or Verizon channel 33 on your television, you will quickly realize that Lincoln has its own vibrant cable TV channel. We owe this great viewing alternative to CNN, Fox News or ESPN to our own Jim Cunningham.
“Jim was appointed to Lincoln’s cable committee way back in 2002 and has served as its chair for most of this time. As chair, Jim has been our point person for license negotiations with our cable providers. More importantly, Jim has built our local cable channel from the ground up. An electrical engineer by education and training, Jim designed and helped install our cable programming infrastructure. He not only manages the technology and equipment, but also does most of the filming and production that allows the town to broadcast many key meeting (such as Select Board and School Committee meetings), special events, and lectures, providing a truly valuable service to the town. Jim spends many hours each week recording and broadcasting this town content for our enjoyment.
“We on the Select Board are especially appreciative of how Jim always manages to film us from our good sides! Jim’s technical know-how and passion for what he does, which he has provided free of charge for many years, has saved the town thousands upon thousands of dollars, as other communities have needed to create full time employee positions for this work.
“Born, raised, and educated here, Jim is immensely proud of his Lincoln roots. And we could not be more proud and grateful to you, Jim, for all that you have contributed to Lincoln. Please join me in giving Jim Cunningham a round of applause as this year’s bright light award recipient.”
Additionally, working closely with Save Our Heritage, Jim was project manager for the restoration of the Barrett house in Concord.
Jim graduated from Cornell University with undergraduate and master’s degrees in electrical engineering. As an undergraduate student, he was business manager, photo editor and editor-in-chief of the yearbook for two years. Since graduation, Jim has remained involved as a volunteer, advocate and donor to Cornell. He served on the advisory board for Systems Engineering and spent time teaching students about systems engineering and its tools. In recent years he established the James F. Cunningham ’71 Assistant Director of Student Project Teams in the College of Engineering with an endowed gift. Mostly Jim talked about his time working with students and fellow Cornellians with great affection.
Jim Cunningham’s perseverance and talent brought the Kent Island’s weather station into modern times. What his father started in 1938 continues today, available to the world on the web, thanks in great part to his son.
A private graveside service will be held at Lincoln Cemetery. Jim’s public memorial service will be announced at a later date. Arrangements are under the care of the Concord Funeral Home. Click here to leave a message or remembrance.
Very sorry to hear of Jimmy’s passing. He was a unique and gifted person who tirelessly participated in his Lincoln community. He’ll be vividly remembered,
I was fortunate enough to be mentored by Jim this past academic year, as a part of Cornell Racing, Cornell’s Formula SAE project team. Jim was an incredibly happy, kind, patient, and wise person who loved what he did. Jim taught me about much more than Model-Based Systems Engineering. He would share past experiences with me, as well as life lessons that changed the way I live my life. Jim even helped me plan some of the stops on my post-graduation road trip.
Thank you Jim for being someone I could look up to, learn from, bounce ideas off of, and share stories with. You will be missed dearly.
What a great photo, of a kind and gentle man. That’s how I remember him.
— Mike O’Brien
This notice only begins to describe Jim’s incredible contributions. We now have endless hours of video to document town-held events. If there was something going on, Jim there with a camera to make sure we had a record.
He was an invaluable contributor to the Lincoln Historical Society and helped launch us into the 20th & 21st century with the creation of a website, before we were all talking about the need for that platform. He was in the process of helping us re-vamp and update to “jazz up” what we have.
Finally, his contributions to our national heritage our seen in his work to ensure expert guidance to the restoration work at the Barrett House. This property was purchase by Save Our Heritage when it was in desperate need of repair. With Jim’s able leadership, restoration was done, and the property gifted to The National Park Service. Here is a bit more about the importance of Jim’s work and this gift.
https://www.nps.gov/mima/learn/historyculture/colonel-james-barrett-house.htm