Mrs. Naomi Cunningham, age 79 and a resident of Rentiesville, Oklahoma, "dozed from life to everlasting" on Tuesday evening, November 27, 2012 from Muskogee.

In a small settlement in McIntosh County, June 27, 1933 was the date that D. C. and Georgia Cunningham announced the birth of a daughter in Huttonville, Oklahoma. They named her Naomi and she was the sixth of thirteen children born from this union.


Naomi received her education from Huttonville Public School, but cut her education short to care for her ailing mother and younger siblings. After the death of her mother, Naomi accepted the task of assisting her father in the care and upbringing of her younger siblings.


Naomi accepted Christ as her personal Savior and was baptized in the New Hope Baptist Church under the leadership of the late Reverend Dan Harris, where she remained a faithful member until the family relocated to Rentiesville. There, she united with the First Baptist Church and remained a faithful member until her death. She served the Lord in various capacities within the Church, including the Choir Secretary, Kitchen Committee, Vice President of the Mission Department and also the Assistant Church Clerk.


Naomi enjoyed piecing quilts and quilting, but cooking was her passion. She made a lifelong career of it, as she was employed as head cook for such eating establishments as McKnights Restaurant, the world renowned Lake Resort, formerly known as Fountainhead Lodge, the infamous Green Country Kitchen, as well as almost every restaurant and diner in McIntosh County. She was proclaimed to be the best cook around and was best known for her homemade cooking; particularly her "biscuits."


Even after her retirement many years ago, Naomi continued to cook and was soon employed as the cook for the senior citizen nutrition program in Rentiesville, Oklahoma, where she so diligently prepared and served meals until the day of her death. She was a quiet but firm lady and when she spoke, the whole family listened. She always had a house full of children, her own as well as her nieces and nephews, grand children and great-grandchildren as well as the neighborhood kids. Somewhere along the way, she became known as "Big Momma", even to her siblings. To know her was to love her.


In her 79th year with us, Naomi Cunningham "took flight with Angels to thine place of rest" on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 from Muskogee, Oklahoma. Those awaiting her arrival in Heaven were her parents, her oldest son, her youngest daughter, a grandson, four brothers and two sisters.


She leaves to cherish her beautiful memory; four sons, Wendell Cunningham, Kansas City, Missouri, Ivie L. Jones [Debbie], Checotah, Oklahoma, Clemmie Cunningham [Karen], Grand Prairie, Texas and Cecil Cunningham [Starks], Rentiesville, Oklahoma; a daughter, Georgia M. Choates, Checotah, Oklahoma; seventeen grandchildren, Marian, Marcus, the twins, Isaac and Isaiah Cunningham; grandchildren all near and dear to Big Momma will forever hold an extra special place in their hearts for her starring role in their upbringing; twenty-five great-grandchildren; three brothers, Elmer Cunningham [Mary], Huttonville, Oklahoma, Calvin L. McJunkins, Rentiesville, Oklahoma, and Charles Cunningham, Kansas City, Kansas; four sisters, Euretha Harris, Raytown, Missouri, Alma J. Davis, Huttonville, Oklahoma, Connie Gilyard [Leon], Checotah, Oklahoma, and Charlesetta Warrior [Luches], Rentiesville, Oklahoma; two sisters-in-law, Hazel Cunningham, Yuma, Arizona and Belinda Cunningham, Eufaula, Oklahoma; along with a caravan of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.


The Sacred Farewell will commence on Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 10:00 AM in the First Baptist Church of Rentiesville. The Pastor, Reverend Donald Brown will Preside.

Burial will follow in the Huttonville Cemetery, west of Eufaula, Oklahoma.

You may visit "Big Momma" as she slumbers at the funeral home on Friday, December 7, 2012 from 10 AM until 6 PM in Muskogee.