Jane Ellis Cunningham

COKER – Jane Ellis Cunningham, age 65, passed away November 12, 2021 at Hospice of West Alabama. Services will be 2 p.m. Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at Memory Chapel Funeral Home with Bro. Mike Hall officiating. Burial will follow in Memory Hill Gardens. The family will receive friends one hour prior to services at the funeral home.

Jane was preceded in death by her parents, Gladys and Jeff Ellis; and infant brother, Roger Ellis.

She is survived by her husband of 46 years, Donald J. Cunningham of Coker, Ala.; and brother, Bobby Ellis (Gail) of Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Jane was born on September 21,1956 to Gladys and Jeff Ellis in Tuscaloosa, Ala. When she was a little girl, she saw a teddy bear thrown away in a trash can and asked her mother to clean it up and mend it. Her mother did as she asked and Jane still had that teddy bear some sixty plus years later. What someone thought was ugly, no good, and useless she saw the beauty and good on the inside. She saw it for what it could be. That was how she continued to live her life, seeing the beauty and good on the inside of people and things. She thought of the well-being of others more than herself.

She enjoyed the outdoors and working in her garden of flowers. She made sure all the animals were fed and had a warm place to stay. At one point, she could feed the deer out of her hands.

As her journey through life brought her many hills and valleys to climb, she faced them with a quiet strength and determination. She will be greatly missed.

Pallbearers will be Scott Mitchum, Philip Mitchum, Philip Gilliland, Jeff Kyles, David Richardson, and Quinten Wheat.

Honorary pallbearers are the employees of the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center and the employees of Hospice of West Alabama.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Jane’s memory to Hospice of West Alabama, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, or a charity of one’s choice.