Obituary of Howard Andrew Cunningham

Santa Barbara native son Howard Andrew Cunningham passed peacefully into God's care on March 10, 2015, at Marian Medical Center Santa Maria. Howard was born June 21, 1919 at Cottage Hospital, attended Hope School, Santa Barbara Jr. High and graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1939; then began working as an aircraft mechanic at Lockheed Martin in Burbank. He served in the US Army Air Corps from 1944-46 in Germany. Howard worked as Supervisor of Buildings & Grounds at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History for 41 years. If you've pressed the button on the rattle snake exhibit there, you touched one of his many innovations. Howard is survived by his devoted, loving grandson Christopher Benedict of Santa Barbara; son-in-law Peter Benedict of Los Alamos; nieces Barbara (David) DeGregorio of Fremont, Jennie Preston of Laguna Beach; and mourned by many friends near & far. Howard was preceded in death by his wife Betty of 51 years in 2006 and their only daughter Gail in 1982. Everyone is invited to Howard's Celebration of Life Gathering on Sunday, March 29, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Rocky Nook Park, Area One, 610 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made in Howard's name to Independent Living Resource Center www.ilrc-trico.org or United Cerebral Palsy www.ucpla.org