Royals fan from Wichita featured on Twitter dies at 88
A Kansas City Royals baseball fan who gained unexpected attention last fall when a photo of him cheering from his hospital bed circulated on Twitter died Monday at his Wichita home after battling heart disease and other longtime illnesses.
A bout of congestive heart failure and a broken hip had landed 88-year-old John Cunningham in the intensive care unit of Via Christi Hospital St. Joseph in October, when his teenage grandson tweeted a photo capturing his celebratory cheer during the Royals’ seven-run second inning in Game 6 of the World Series.
Chris Cunningham’s post read: “My 88 year old grandpa still cheering hard for a royals win even in the ICU of the hospital #TakeTheCrown.”
Within a day, it had been shared thousands of times, including by local and national media outlets.
ESPN and Fox Sports noticed the tweet.
“He was certainly a big sports fanatic,” Dave Cunningham said of his father. Two days before his death, his family asked if he wanted to watch the Wichita State University men’s basketball match-up with Northern Iowa on TV.
“He said yes,” Dave Cunningham said. “It was one of the few words he said all day.”
Mr. Cunningham, a lifelong Wichitan, was known around town for being friendly, his son said. Born in Wichita on June 16, 1926, he worked for, then took over operation of, his family’s store, Cunningham Carpet and Drapery, at Douglas and Hillside after serving two years in the Navy during World War II.
The store, the first of its kind in Kansas, closed in 1991.
“He’d kind of talk your ear off,” Dave Cunningham said of his father. “It seemed like he knew everyone in the city.”
Although he was still trying to understand the breadth of the publicity surrounding his grandson’s tweet when he died, Mr. Cunningham “took great joy in knowing that he made connections with other people,” Dave Cunningham said.
“And it was in a whole different way – it was with a picture, instead of him talking.”
Mr. Cunningham is survived by his wife, Ann; five children; and 11 grandchildren.
His funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Wichita.
Reach Amy Renee Leiker at 316-268-6644 or aleiker@wichitaeagle.com. Follow her on Twitter: @amyreneeleiker.
This story was originally published February 4, 2015 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Royals fan from Wichita featured on Twitter dies at 88."