Joseph Cunningham

A funeral service for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Lee Cunningham, 36, of Trussville, Ala., will be 1 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church in Trussville with the Rev. D.J. Horton officiating. Burial with military honors will follow in Jefferson Memorial Gardens in Trussville, with Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home in charge of arrangements. The family will receive friends at the church 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Staff Sgt. Cunningham died Aug. 7 in an automobile accident in Glennville, Ga. Survivors include his wife, Carrie Denise Horsley Cunningham, of Trussville; four daughters, Anna Nicole, 15, Abby Lynne, 11, Bailey Grace, 5, and Bethany Ann, 4; his parents, Jo Ann Bliss Detwiler, of Appling, Ga., and Benjamin Blaise and Carol Ann Cunningham, of Anniston, Ala.; his parents-in-law, Robert and Connie Horsley, of Trussville; two brothers, Benjamin Blaise Cunningham Jr. and his wife, Sherri, of Jacksonville, Ala., and Adam Jordan Detwiler and his wife, Amber, of Martinez, Ga., and grandmothers, Evelyn Schoonover Caward, of Canisteo, N.Y. and Sue Steinbroner, of Hornell, N.Y. He was preceded in death by a brother, David William Cunningham. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the U.S. Army Bands and fellow soldiers. Staff Sgt. Cunningham was an Army bandsman for 17 years, and was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division Band at Fort Stewart, Ga., where he arrived the day of his accident. He was born into an Army family in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1978. He had played the tuba since the sixth grade, and was a 1996 graduate of Saks High School in Anniston. He enlisted in 1997, attended the U.S. Army School of Music in Virginia Beach, Va., and served at Fort Benning, Ga., Yongsan, South Korea, Fort Rucker, Ala., Fort Drum, N.Y. and Fort Riley, Kan. He deployed twice to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. His awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Korea Defense Service Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the NATO Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Army Achievement Medal and the Army Service Ribbon. He was a member of the American Legion and the Sons of the American Legion. In lieu of flowers, the family request donations to the Joe's Girls Scholarship Fund, established at AOD Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 608, Bynum, AL 36253.