Leo Phillip Cunningham

Leo Cunningham, beloved husband of Vernette, was born in Gold Creek, Montana, on March 8, 1915. He graduated from high school in Wallace, Idaho. He attended college in Cheney, where he majored in music, playing the violin. He then went to the University of Washington and obtained a BA in Business Administration in 1941, which led him into a career of Industrial Engineering. The Boeing Company hired him as one of the first three Industrial Engineers at the company. Leo and Vernette were married in 1943. After four years in Wichita, where Jerry Lee was born, they came to Seattle. Leo retired from Boeing in 1992.

Leo was truly a renaissance man. His interests ranged from music, painting, winemaking, gourmet cooking, golf, and ice skating, but his one true passion after his family was bonsai. As a founder of the Puget Sound Bonsai Association, he was elected its third president and went on to be elected to the presidency of the American Bonsai Society. He traveled the Far East and Europe many times for his bonsai interests, as well as numerous U.S. cities for seminars and bonsai conventions, where he made many friends. In 1988, Leo led the team that put together the original Weyerhaeuser Pacific Rim Bonsai collection. He taught the art of bonsai for many years. His numerous students are just one of his legacies. A gentle man, Leo will be missed by many.