Francis J. Cunningham

Cunningham, Francis J., (Captain, Providence Police Department, Retired) 83, of Mount View Drive, Cranston, and Breakwater Village, Narragansett, passed away after a brief illness on Easter Sunday, at Rhode Island Hospital, surrounded by his loving family. He was the beloved husband of K. Patricia (Carroll) Cunningham, and they would have been married fifty-seven years this month. Born in Providence, he was a son of the late Thomas and Teresa (Noone) Cunningham. Mr. Cunningham was a Providence Police Officer for over thirty-two years before retiring in 1976 with the rank of Captain. Prior to his appointment to the police department, Frank was a baseball player in the Saint Louis Cardinal minor league system. He then enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he honorably served his country during WW II. At the completion of the war, he was sworn in as a Providence Police Officer and for the next ten years was assigned to the Juvenile Bureau as an investigator, while also working as a counselor at the Providence Junior Police Camp at Camp Cronin, Narragansett. He would spend the next twenty years in the Traffic Bureau, where he was promoted to Sergeant, Lieutenant, and then Captain, at which time he assumed the role of Commanding Officer, and was considered an expert in accident investigations. In 1973, he was transferred to the Juvenile Bureau, as Commanding Officer, until his retirement in 1976 from the Police Department. He was appointed Executive Director of the Blackstone Valley Crime Prevention Bureau, and then became Director of Security for Saint Joseph Hospital, Providence, and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, North Providence. He was a communicant of the Immaculate Conception Church, Cranston and Saint Mary, Star of the Sea Church, Narragansett. During his career, Captain Cunningham was recognized for his contributions to youth athletic activities, and as well as numerous commendations for excellence in police work. He was the devoted father of Patricia Rossi and her husband Richard, Carroll Aubin and her husband Gerald, and cherished grandfather of Lauryn Rossi Dandorph and her husband Keith, Kristen Rossi, Jodi Aubin and Kylie Aubin. He was a brother of the late William, Thomas, Matthew and Catherine Cunningham. The funeral will be held Thursday, at 8:45 am, from the Russell J. Boyle & Son Funeral Home, 142 Centerville Road (Rt.117) Warwick. Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 am in Immaculate Conception Church, Oaklawn Avenue, Cranston. Burial will be in Saint Ann Cemetery, Cranston. Visiting hours Wednesday, 4 - 8 pm.