Bill Cunningham Passes Away

Bill Cunningham

Assistant Manager - McKay Club Beacons

It is with deep sadness that I inform you of the passing of William K. Cunninham. Billy C is the late Assistant Manager of the McKay Club Beacons of the Thomas A. Yawkey Baseball League. He was 59 years of age at the time of his passing.

Bill suffered a massive stroke at a Saturday evening baseball game in June of 2008. He was keeping score and exchanging lineups at Ronan Park - doing something he enjoyed more than anything - when he was felled by that near fatal incident. Bill recovered from major surgery and was in a Rehab Center preparing to be transfered to an assited living facility in his beloved Dorchester this week. he was taken for a routine check up at the Boston medical Center on Tuesday of this week. Bill collapsed and went into a coma and suffered another massive stroke on Wednesday. Doctors and his family decided to remove life support last night and Bill entered into rest at 12:30PM today.

Bill and I shared some tremendous moments watching Yawkey League games over the years. I know how much he cared for the young men who crossed his path over a generation. He made a huge contribution to our effort to promote quality amateur baseball in Boston. I will never forget his efforts in support of my agenda as a manager.

Some of Bill's happiest moments were spent in the sun splashed fields all over Florida every March watching MLB Spring Training Games. We traveled to every Grapefruit League location over a 12 year period. We also had an opportunity to see many college spring games while in Ft. Myers.

Bill made great friends at Sonny's Pub and the Blarney Stone over the years. No friends were dearer to him than those who we met every year at Kitty O'Sheas in Orlando and The Time Out Tavern in Ft. Myers.

A wake is being planned for Bill at O'Connor Funeral Home on Adams Street in Dorchester from 4PM to 8PM on Tuesday. Bill be sent to God at a Funeral mass to be held on Wednesday at St. Mark Chruch on Dorchester Avenue on Wednesday morning. I will email the complete and accurate times when I get them tomorrow.

This has been a very tragic week for the baseball world in Dorchester. Steve George and Joe Holloran passed this past week. Now, we Baseball heads morn the loss of Bill Cunningham.

May God Rest Bill's Soul!