No detail went unnoticed by Janet Cunningham.
A gold ribbon adorned holiday wreaths on the doors of the District 90 administrative office. She would never forget anyone’s favorite candy, which would help fortify everyone during long board meetings.
Cunningham, executive assistant to the superintendent, did it all — with flair, and usually a bow and a smile.
“She came to work every day with the attitude, ‘How can I help?’ and she always was gracious,” said Tyra Manning, D90’s former superintendent who worked with Cunningham from 1993 to 2004. “She always went above and beyond expectations.”
Cunningham, the Willard Elementary “science mom” who became that school’s secretary and went on to be the executive assistant to five D90 superintendents, died on Jan. 2, 2015. The longtime River Forest resident died of natural causes, her daughter, Katie said. She was 64.
Cunningham had been on medical leave recovering from surgery, D90 Supt. Ed Condon said in an email to staff. He was informed of her passing by her son, David.
“Everyone’s still in shock,” said Condon. “A kinder, more gracious and beautiful person none of us could ever meet.”
Superintendents come and go, administrations turn over, boards change, but Cunningham was a constant in the district, said current school board president Patrick Meyer. “She was a terrific human being. It is all hitting us pretty hard.”
The work she did was exacting. Even in a small district like D90, there were always deadlines, and the workload and the atmosphere could be intense, with lots of constituencies — school board members, staff, PTOs.
A consummate professional, she was impeccably dressed with manicured nails and pointy high heels; she never went anywhere without a purse and a tote bag.
Warm and engaging, she made people feel welcome and at ease. She had a folksy manner answering the phone and greeting people in the parking lot and always was sensitive to parents and children, making sure their situations were dealt with right away, said Pam Hyde, Lincoln Elementary School’s principal, who came to Willard as a teacher in 1989 when Cunningham was school secretary.
A terrific problem solver, her salty sense of humor would bring levity to tense board meetings, said Carlotta Lucchesi, former D90 school board president.
It was the little things that made people smile. Bows were found on garbage cans. Tables were decked out with flowers of the season. A basket of chocolates always made their way to meetings. Parties were tended with great care — right down to the napkins, tablecloths and doilies.
Kathy Quaid, the nurse at Willard who knew Cunningham for 50 years, said she postponed her surgery by one day so she get everything “buttoned up” for the district’s holiday parties, including a trip to Reuter’s Bakery in Chicago, her favorite, to pick up the sweets.
“She was a company man, in the best sense of the word. She loved her job. Nobody didn’t like Janet,” Quaid said.
Manning said she couldn’t have held the legendary lunchtime holiday party, featuring Texas chili and brisket, which fed loads of folks from district staff to board members and anyone else in River Forest who came by.
“She took care of five superintendents,” said Martha Ryan-Toye, the district’s director of student services, “and she took care of the district in so many ways. She’s going to be hard to replace.”
She had a great sense of fun, Quaid said. Chums Forever — consisting of Cunningham, Quaid and four other women — met every month for dinner, art shows and hiking. She enjoyed movies and the Academy Awards show. She was fond of country music and met her current boyfriend while line dancing, Quaid said.
Her daughter Katie said she was fond of evoking the words of Winston Churchill about never giving up because she’d had a lot of adversity to overcome. She was widowed in her early 40s and survived breast cancer. In 2000, Katie said, they made a pact that they would travel together every two years.
When Katie was studying at the University of Lucerne in 2010, she came over to visit. “She’d sit on a bench and wait for her to get out of class, reading a book and having croissants. She loved it.”
In 2007, she survived a brain aneurysm. Her daughter said she loved her job but vowed to retire whenever Condon did. She enjoyed being the person who got to dump water on her boss during the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge last year.
“She loved life. Her laugh was infectious,” Katie said.
—Deb Kadin