Helen M. Cunningham

Helen Maxine (Zeller) Cunningham passed away at the age of 93 years on April 9, 2021at Cedarwood Assisted Living in Fairbury, after a brief illness.
Helen was born on September 5, 1927 to Vernal (Bateman) and Dannie Zeller in Marion, KS. She attended high school in Marion and graduated in 1945. She continued her education at the Wesley Medical Center School of Nursing in Wichita, KS and received her RN degree in 1948. She began her 45-year career in Kansas and held various nursing positions in Washington state, Utah, and Nebraska. She worked as a critical care nurse at Lincoln General, Saint Elizabeth's, and Bryan Hospital in Lincoln, NE til she retired in 1992. In 2006 she moved to Fairbury to be closer to family residing at the '23 Apartments and then at Cedarwood Assisted Living.
Some milestones Helen achieved during her career were the John Wilson Rodgers Art of Nursing National award given by the Association of Critical Care Nurses in 1989 (she was one of 20,000 eligible critical care nurses). Helen helped set up critical care units at the various hospitals along with writing standards for critical care units at Lincoln General Hospital. She served on the committee for the American Heart Association from 1983-1987 and co-authored the teaching pamphlet entitled ''The Beat Goes On" published in 1978. She saw many changes in medicine over the years and embraced them all - continuing her education by attending programs at JCH&L and always being responsible for educating ot hers. Nursing was her passion.
Helen had many hobbies after retirement including painting, sewing, and reading. She loved to travel and went on many bus trips around Kansas and Nebraska. She also traveled abroad with her brother and his wife to Australia and Europe.
Helen is survived by her sister-in-law, Mary Zeller, nieces, and nephews.
She was preceeded in death by her parents, brothers Paul Zeller & wife Violet, William D. Zeller, Ralph Zeller, and sister Nora Conyers & husband Kenneth.
There will be no services and a private family burial will be at a later date.