Rosemary Cunningham

Rosemary C. Cunningham, age 84 of Faribault, MN passed away on Thursday, December 3, 2020 at the Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, MN.

Rosemary Christine, the daughter of Glenn and Marie (Andres) Rasmussen was born on April 23, 1936 in Faribault.  She attended Bethlehem Academy High School and graduated with the class of 1954.  Following high school she attended the College of St. Teresa and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Education in 1958.  Rosemary began her teaching career in St. Paul, MN and then went to Pueblo and then Colorado Springs, Colorado to teach for a few years before returning to Faribault.  Upon her return she began a 29 year career as a third grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, retiring in 1999.  In retirement she enjoyed staying connected with her students and friends through her “Porch Chronicles” that she would publish on her Facebook page about different activities that were taking place outside her front door.  Family was everything to Rosemary and she enjoyed all the visits she could get with her children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.  She also enjoyed doing word searches, was an avid reader and read many books over the years, coloring books, loved watching the birds while sitting on her new deck and shooting the water gun at the squirrels and taking pictures of her dog Mitzi and her cat Hugo.  She enjoyed afternoon drives with her dog Mitzi to go visit her brother Don at the station and was just starting an ancestry search for her family.  She was part of the Monday morning coffee group with her retired teacher friends but didn’t attend as often as she would have liked to.  For quite a few years she and a group of retired teachers would get together every Friday night for dinner at different restaurants in the area.  Over the last few years the group unfortunately became smaller but was still enjoyed by those who were there.  She also enjoyed meeting with her college friends for lunch every 3 months.   She was united in marriage to Bob Cunningham on August 12, 1961 at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Faribault.  Bob preceded her in death in 1975.

She is survived by her children, Glenn Cunningham and family, Carolyn (Ron) Larson and their children, Foster, Jake and Jared, Donna C. Boyer and Mitzi and Hugo and Mike (Dawn) Cunningham and their daughter, Alissa; by two great grandchildren; by three brothers, Glenn Richard (Pat) Rasmussen, Don (DeAnn) Rasmussen and Jack Rasmussen; by her former son-in-law, Chris Boyer and by many nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.  She is also survived by her special friend of many years, Mary Dietsch.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband and her brother David Rasmussen.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, December 10, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. at the Parker Kohl Funeral Home with Sr. Kathleen Hayes, Pastoral Minister at Divine Mercy Catholic Church officiating.  Interment will be held at the Calvary Cemetery in Faribault.  The service will also be live-streamed through a link found on Rosemary’s obituary page at www.parkerkohlfuneralhome.com.

Visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the funeral home.