Lake County Board Vice Chair Mary Ross Cunningham, a driving force in Waukegan and Lake County politics for decades whose personal experiences helped turn her into a “tireless advocate” for those in need, died Tuesday.
Cunningham, born Nov. 19, 1945, was remembered by local officials as a dynamic and caring public servant, and by family as a loving mother, wonderful chef, grandmother and great-grandmother.
According to Sam Cunningham, her son and the mayor of Waukegan, Mary Ross Cunningham was one of 22 children, born in rural Alabama and a segregated South. The family home sat on a dirt road a half-mile off the main road, he said.
She would move to Chicago and then Waukegan in the ‘60s with her husband, Samuel Davis Cunningham. But her young family would be struck by tragedy when her husband was murdered on Feb. 28, 1968.
Sam Cunningham said his father’s death would put her on a path to protect her four children and “make sure they had everything they needed to be successful.”
“Here’s a lady coming up from the South to the North with her husband to start her family. All that with the dream of a house, a car, a white picket fence, and then her husband dies on her,” he said. “Now she is in this survival mode, taking care of her young family. I assure you, she has been in that mindset from that day to today.”
The family moved into public housing, Sam Cunningham said, but “public housing didn’t move into us — meaning the mindset.” She commanded respect, he said, both within the family and the community, becoming president of the tenement association for their public housing and kickstarting her long political path.
Growing up, Sam Cunningham admitted he didn’t understand the high standards she placed on everyone, her children included. But as he moved into leadership positions, her views began to make sense.
“She said, ‘I’m no politician; I’m a public servant,’” he recalled.
According to a Lake County release, Cunningham was first elected to the County Board in 2002 for District 9, which includes portions of Waukegan and North Chicago. In 2018, she was elected vice chair of the board, a position she held until her death.
Cunningham was the first Black woman to serve in board leadership, the county release said, and the second Black woman elected to the board. She served on dozens of committees and commissions, including as the longtime chair of the County Board’s Law and Judicial Committee and as the chair of the board’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.
Cunningham was on the Governing Council of the Lake County Health Department and the Workforce Development Board, and was Lake County’s representative to the National Association of Counties. She also served on NACo’s Veterans and Military Service Committee and the Community, Economic & Workforce Steering Committee.
She successfully championed establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a fixed holiday for employees, and worked closely with former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White on a driver’s license reinstatement program.
Before her work on the County Board, Cunningham spent nearly 30 years working with veterans at the Veterans Administration Hospital in North Chicago. She also worked extensively with the Waukegan Housing Authority, Community Action Partnership and PADS Lake County.
“She was a tireless advocate for people experiencing homelessness, affordable housing, criminal justice and economic opportunity for all,” the release said.
True believer
Mary Ross Cunningham’s experience as a single Black mother raising a family in public housing would shape her political work for decades, Sam Cunningham said. She wanted to help get county services to those in need in a dignified way, and without judgment for their skin color, religion or gender.
She “truly believed” that the county was there to help people with everything from utility bills to health care, and the critical importance of housing, he said.
“Dr. Mary Ross Cunningham was a force. But she was a force with love. Everything she did was based on her love of people. That was because people loved her during her time of need,” Cunningham said.
She was a vocal proponent of the county’s annual homelessness count, heading out with other volunteers late into the night, often on some of the coldest days of the year, to find those in need and connect them with resources. And during board meetings leading up to the count, she would tell other board members to join her in volunteering.
Sandy Hart, the County Board chair who had grown close to Cunningham over her political career, called her death a “huge loss.” She had lost not only a mentor but her friend, she said.
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“She was a public servant and a fierce defender, an advocate for the people in her district, and anyone who needed help,” Hart said. “When I first joined the County Board, she told me, ‘Don’t forget who put you here. You’re not here to make friends, you’re here to help people.’”
Hart noted Cunningham’s seemingly endless energy and drive, maintained over her decades-long career. Her achievements were “staggering,” she said.
“There’s a huge void on the County Board without her. She was a stickler for contracts. She was always fighting to make sure that we were paying attention to local business owners and workers. She just never gave up,” Hart said.
Diana O’Kelly is the supervisor of Fremont Township, and was on the County Board when Cunningham first won election in 2002. O’Kelly praised Cunningham’s spirited nature in fighting for her constituency. She was “tough,” O’Kelly said, always ready to “go after what she thought was right.”
O’Kelly recalled once when she had someone at the local jail that she needed to visit. When she arrived, Cunningham was already there.
But O’Kelly’s praise wasn’t limited to politics — the two had a close relationship, so much so that she had been at Cunningham’s house last Thanksgiving to pick up a sweet potato pie.
“She was bigger than life,” O’Kelly said.
Knowing Cunningham’s story, she said she deeply admired her for what she overcame in her life. O’Kelly, like other officials, noted her great pride in her family and children, along with the high standards to which she held them — and everyone.
“She instilled wonderful values in her kids — she was so proud of their education, and where she had come from, all they had accomplished,” O’Kelly said.
Also notable about Mary Ross Cunningham was her style; like a vision from Sunday church back in Alabama, with bold colors and big hats, standing out among the far more conservative fashion of local government. Her “Sunday best was everyday,” Sam Cunningham said with a laugh.
It was partially cultural — something she picked up from growing up in the South — and partially a message, he said.
“She wanted people to know Dr. Mary Ross Cunningham was in the room. She did that on many levels,” he said.
He recalled seeing her get regular deliveries of boxes, and knowing exactly what was inside — “stylish hats.”
Health challenges
Mary Ross Cunningham had been facing health challenges for some time, her son said. In 2015, she went in for a cancerous spot on her lungs, he recalled. The family had thought that was the end of it, but unbeknownst to anyone, she continued to face health struggles.
“Here’s the strength of my mother; she was being treated for stage 4 cancer for the last 10 years,” he said. “My siblings and I just recently learned of this. My mother has been battling this for the last 10 years. It’s remarkable she has not missed a beat.”
Both the family and broader community face the same question: What happens next? Cunningham said his mother had prepared both for what was to come, constantly holding them to high standards and pushing people to action. Still, the Waukegan area has lost a “giant advocate,” he said.
“This community, particularly the county, while she’s going to be missed, she’ll never be forgotten. That’s my mother’s legacy,” he said.