Vern Vinton Cunningham and Mary Alice Reed were married June 13, 1928 in Columbus, Kansas. They were my grandparents (my father originally set up this memorial so references to 'my dad' are from him).
He grew up on a farm in Ross Township in Cherokee County, then farmed in the Girard area until 1934. We moved into the town of Girard when he quit farming, where he worked various jobs until 1943. Then with friends, he moved his family to Yakima, Washington to work at the new AEC plant in Hanford. He worked there as a pipe fitter, a trade he followed the rest of his life. In the winter of 1944 we moved to Andersonville, Tennessee where he worked at the new AEC plant in Oak Ridge. We returned to Yakima in the summer of 1945. They moved to Lynnwood, just north of Seattle in 1956. He retired in 1966 and they purchased a large mobile home lot in Lake Stevens, Washington.
From the early 1970's until my mother's passing in 1980, they spent their summers in Lake Stevens and their winters in Orange County, California.
My dad often joked about being named after a can of corn. While doing genealogy research in Iowa, I found there had been a large cannery in Vinton, IA that produced a popular canned corn call "Vinton Sugar Corn". I recently found out from a cousin that when dad was born, his mother could see the kitchen from her bedroom. Seeing a can of Vinton Corn on the kitchen counter, said how well she liked how Vinton went with Vern, and that became his name.
So he was in fact named after a can of corn. I have attached a picture of his namesake to his memorial.
He grew up on a farm in Ross Township in Cherokee County, then farmed in the Girard area until 1934. We moved into the town of Girard when he quit farming, where he worked various jobs until 1943. Then with friends, he moved his family to Yakima, Washington to work at the new AEC plant in Hanford. He worked there as a pipe fitter, a trade he followed the rest of his life. In the winter of 1944 we moved to Andersonville, Tennessee where he worked at the new AEC plant in Oak Ridge. We returned to Yakima in the summer of 1945. They moved to Lynnwood, just north of Seattle in 1956. He retired in 1966 and they purchased a large mobile home lot in Lake Stevens, Washington.
From the early 1970's until my mother's passing in 1980, they spent their summers in Lake Stevens and their winters in Orange County, California.
My dad often joked about being named after a can of corn. While doing genealogy research in Iowa, I found there had been a large cannery in Vinton, IA that produced a popular canned corn call "Vinton Sugar Corn". I recently found out from a cousin that when dad was born, his mother could see the kitchen from her bedroom. Seeing a can of Vinton Corn on the kitchen counter, said how well she liked how Vinton went with Vern, and that became his name.
So he was in fact named after a can of corn. I have attached a picture of his namesake to his memorial.
Vern Vinton Cunningham and Mary Alice Reed were married June 13, 1928 in Columbus, Kansas. They were my grandparents (my father originally set up this memorial so references to 'my dad' are from him).
He grew up on a farm in Ross Township in Cherokee County, then farmed in the Girard area until 1934. We moved into the town of Girard when he quit farming, where he worked various jobs until 1943. Then with friends, he moved his family to Yakima, Washington to work at the new AEC plant in Hanford. He worked there as a pipe fitter, a trade he followed the rest of his life. In the winter of 1944 we moved to Andersonville, Tennessee where he worked at the new AEC plant in Oak Ridge. We returned to Yakima in the summer of 1945. They moved to Lynnwood, just north of Seattle in 1956. He retired in 1966 and they purchased a large mobile home lot in Lake Stevens, Washington.
From the early 1970's until my mother's passing in 1980, they spent their summers in Lake Stevens and their winters in Orange County, California.
My dad often joked about being named after a can of corn. While doing genealogy research in Iowa, I found there had been a large cannery in Vinton, IA that produced a popular canned corn call "Vinton Sugar Corn". I recently found out from a cousin that when dad was born, his mother could see the kitchen from her bedroom. Seeing a can of Vinton Corn on the kitchen counter, said how well she liked how Vinton went with Vern, and that became his name.
So he was in fact named after a can of corn. I have attached a picture of his namesake to his memorial.
He grew up on a farm in Ross Township in Cherokee County, then farmed in the Girard area until 1934. We moved into the town of Girard when he quit farming, where he worked various jobs until 1943. Then with friends, he moved his family to Yakima, Washington to work at the new AEC plant in Hanford. He worked there as a pipe fitter, a trade he followed the rest of his life. In the winter of 1944 we moved to Andersonville, Tennessee where he worked at the new AEC plant in Oak Ridge. We returned to Yakima in the summer of 1945. They moved to Lynnwood, just north of Seattle in 1956. He retired in 1966 and they purchased a large mobile home lot in Lake Stevens, Washington.
From the early 1970's until my mother's passing in 1980, they spent their summers in Lake Stevens and their winters in Orange County, California.
My dad often joked about being named after a can of corn. While doing genealogy research in Iowa, I found there had been a large cannery in Vinton, IA that produced a popular canned corn call "Vinton Sugar Corn". I recently found out from a cousin that when dad was born, his mother could see the kitchen from her bedroom. Seeing a can of Vinton Corn on the kitchen counter, said how well she liked how Vinton went with Vern, and that became his name.
So he was in fact named after a can of corn. I have attached a picture of his namesake to his memorial.
