Obituary of Nigel Cunningham

igel Gaige Cunningham was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 22, 1993, to Vanessa Cunningham and Michael H. Lee Sr. He was the youngest of Vanessa’s two children. On January 26, 2023, in the twinkling of an eye, God in His Sovereignty, sent His heavenly angels to usher Nigel home. Nigel was born three months prematurely at 24 weeks weighing only one pound, five ounces at birth. He was so fragile and was immediately intubated and placed on a ventilator. He spent the next six months in the NICU at Einstein Medical Center until he was trached and transferred to Children's Seashore House where he would spend the next ten months until he finally came home at sixteen months old. Nigel attended school at Katzenbach School for the Deaf in West Trenton, New Jersey, Gloucester County Special Services in Sewell, New Jersey, Bancroft Neurohealth School in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and would later go on to graduate from Durand Academy in Woodberry, New Jersey in 2015 at the age of 21 years old. Nigel’s smile could light up a room. He loved taking horseback riding lessons at Majoda Stables in Morrestown, New Jersey. He always enjoyed attending church with his mother at Sharon Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Nigel had a gift for balancing combs and would sometimes balance two or three at a time. You rarely saw him without one. You could often find Nigel watching an Elmo movie; Elmo in Grouchland was his favorite one. Nigel enjoyed the water whether it was taking a bubble bath or in the pool for a swim. Nigel had an army of people who loved him dearly. He was charismatic in nature and was always earning the title “My Nigel” wherever he went. He was cared for by many nurses over the years and some adopted him in as their own family. They equally became extended family to us. They loved and cared for Nigel as if they were caring for a family member of their own. He even had a nerve to have his “favorites” that he rarely gave a hard way to go. Nigel leaves to mourn his mother Vanessa Cunningham, sister Tiffany Theodore and brother-in-law Robert Theodore, grandmother Marie Cunningham, nephews Israel, Ezra, Axel and Jedaiah, nieces Eden- Joy and Noya Theodore, great aunts Albertha Roberts and Violet Melton, cousins Dyonne Cunningham, George (Drew) and Aaron Christie, and Forest Finney and a host of other relatives and loved ones.