Cunninghams in Hughson

History of Hughson, California: The People, the Places, the Traditions of a Small Town

Following the July Hughson Historical Society Meeting at the Hughson Historical Museum on July 2, Dick Cunningham presented a brief history of the Cunningham family. The Ham and Lorraine Cunningham will be honored alongside the Aroldo and Mary Chiesa family at the Long-Standing Citizen Appreciation Dinner. The twenty-second dinner will be on August 17 at 6 p.m. at St. Anthony’s Hughes Hall at 7820 Fox Rd, Hughson.

Each year, the dinner honors prominent or longstanding residents of the City of Hughson. Honorees create displays of family photographs and artifacts and present their families' history in Hughson. Sarah Cunningham presented a longer version of their history at the dinner.

Ham Cunningham was born on August 6, 1930, in Knob, Arkansas, the eighth of nine children, to sharecroppers Jess and Lee Cunningham. There, they grew row crops on 40 acres with two mules. The farm is still there, although the house is no longer. Dick recalled his grandmother spent time canning, preserving. They had livestock: cows, pigs, and chickens. Whatever cash came in from the crops was used for the bare necessities.

In 1937, the Dust Bowl “drove them all out.” The family moved to California in a truck owned by Lee’s brother, Owen. Lee did not know how to drive, and Owen drove the Cunninghams and some neighbors to Waterford, California.

There, Ham attended grammar school until the family moved to Empire, where his father went to work at the Lucksinger farm. He then attended Modesto High School. In his spare time, Ham worked at the farm with his father, especially during the summer, harvesting fruit. He also worked for Max Foster, then a turkey farmer, before Foster Farms entered the dairy business.

In 1946, while traveling back to California after visiting family and friends in Arkansas, Ham drove. According to Dick, Ham must have gotten tired, and Lee took over. “He probably was not a good driver,” Dick said since Lee had little experience of it. Lee and one of his daughters died in a car accident. Ham and his mother survived with injuries.

To help support his mother, Ham quit high school as a senior to go to work. His first job was at Borden's Creamery in Modesto, stacking milk cans in boxcars, earning $0.60 to $0.90 per hour.

Lorraine (Willson) Cunningham was born March 9, 1932, at home in Empire, California, to Louie and Lena Willson. Louie farmed and raised turkeys and chickens. Lena worked in the Empire School cafeteria. Lorraine attended elementary school in Empire and then graduated from Modesto High School.

Ham and Lorraine married at The Church of The Brethren in Empire on February 12, 1950, and lived in a one-bedroom house on Scenic Drive in Modesto on a farm leased by Lorraine's father.

Ham worked at Olsen Brothers Eggs as a truck driver, picking up eggs from the farm and then later delivering the eggs to stores. Lorraine worked as a secretary at the Pontiac dealership in Modesto. In 1952, Ham and Lorraine bought their first home, a three-bedroom house on Cloverdale Avenue in Modesto. After their sons, Kenneth Stephen and Richard Paul were born, they moved to Service Road in Hughson, where Ham and Lorraine leased a one-bedroom house and a chicken barn to raise chickens for JS West.

“We couldn’t wait until we got out of the chicken business because we were all in it as kids. We got to gather eggs,” Dick said. “We didn’t have the privilege Dad had of shoveling manure.”

Cindy Elaine was born in 1957. Three years later, Ham and Lorraine became full-time almond farmers and started an almond shelling business.

The kids attended Gratton School. Ham and Lorraine volunteered for the Gratton PTA and the Gratton Pit BBQ. “They were both very proud of the success of the Pit BBQ,” Dick said.

The family moved to 11131 John Fox Road in 1967, where a new almond huller was built. Ham planted almonds on the former dairy on John Fox Road and managed the farms of others, including George Foster, who farmed all of Foster's almonds.

Ham would spend many hours helping to expand and improve Hughson Youth Baseball. Dick remembers his father coaching some attendees at the meeting before he was young enough to play. Ham continued to coach, even after his children outgrew the program. Dick and his father coached one team side-by-side. Sarah Cunningham, Dick’s daughter, is current the president of Hughson Youth Baseball/Softball.

Ham was a founding board member of the California Almond Hullers Association, now known as the Almond Alliance. Ham served on the Board of Directors of the Sierra Vista Family and Child Services for 25 years. Lorraine was involved in the Hughson Methodist Church and was a founding board member of the Hughson Family Resource Center and the Hughson Historical Society.

“My mom was dedicated to her family most of all,” Dick said. “For 70 years, the Cunninghams have been part of Hughson.”

Historical Society founding member Jean Henley said to Dick at the close of his presentation, “One thing about your mom, Lorraine, if you lived in a community, you got involved in the community, and that was Lorraine.”

“Yes,” he agreed, “that was mom.”

Lorraine died in 2011. Ham now lives in Missouri.

Originally published in the Hughson Chronicle & Denair Dispatch on July 9, 2024. The Hughson Chronicle & Denair Dispatch is part of MidValley Publications - committed to the power of the positive press. Reprinted with Permission.

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