Paul Tracy Cunningham – Commander, United States Navy

From a contemporary press report:

Paul Tracy Cunningham, 62, a retired Navy commander who later operated a computer and space components manufacturing business, died November 6, 1999 at home in Alexandria, Virginia,  after a heart attack.

Commander Cunningham retired in 1998 as chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Microdyne Corp. of Alexandria.

He served 20 years in the Navy, including duty aboard submarines, a posting in Guam and an assignment as executive assistant to the comptroller at the Department of Defense. While serving in the Navy he received a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard.

After his military retirement in 1979 he founded Basic Technology Corp. in Alexandria, which he sold, and then founded Federal Technology Corp., an Alexandria operation of which he was chairman of the board and president. This company later absorbed Microdyne Corp. of Florida and
took Microdyne’s name.

Commander Cunningham was born in Washington and grew up in New Jersey. He graduated from Holy Cross College.

He was an art enthusiast and collector. In recent years he spent summers at his vacation home at Watch Hill, R.I. He was a member of the Georgetown Club.

His marriage to Mary Lou Riggio Cunningham ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife, Lizanne Stahnke Cunningham, and their twin children, Daniel and Jacqueline, all of Alexandria; four daughters from his first marriage, Elizabeth Cunningham of Clinton, N.J., Maura Cunningham Spaeth of Cos Cob, Conn., and Katharine Cunningham and Sheila Cunningham Donaldson, both of Fairfax; a sister; and two grandchildren.

CUNNINGHAM, PHILIP TRACY
COMMANDER USN (Ret.)

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Microdyne Corporation, Alexandria, VA, died suddenly November 6, 1999 at his home in Alexandria, VA. Mr. Cunningham was the son of the late Daniel T. Cunningham and Hilda Bedingham Cunningham. Born in Washington, DC, and raised in New Jersey, he was a graduate of Holy Cross (BS) in 1959 and Harvard (MBA) in 1968. In the last years of his life, he spent his summers in his Watch Hill, RI home, where he was active in community affairs and a member of the Watch Hill Yacht Club and The Lighthouse Keepers Association. He is survived by his wife, Lizanne Stahnke Cunningham, their twin children, Daniel and Jacqueline; his first wife, Mary Lou Riggio Cunningham and their four children, Elizabeth Cunningham of Clinton, NJ, Maura Cunningham Spaeth of Cos Cob, CT, Katharine Cunningham of Fairfax, VA and Sheila Cunningham Donaldson of Fairfax, VA; two grandsons, Joseph Morano and Noah Spaeth of Connecticut and a sister, Mrs. Matthew Kelley of Pennsylvania. A funeral service will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 310 S. Royal St., Alexandria, VA on Wednesday, November 10, 1999 at 10 a.m. Private interment in Arlington National Cemetery on November 19, 1999. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the Campagna Center, 418 S. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard