Pat & Gord Deane (Friend of Tom's Sister Lorraine)

Entered April 10, 2018 from Mississauga

Late yesterday I was made aware of the sad news of Tom's passing. While I did not know Tom, I have been a friend and fellow hockey teammate of Lorraine's for many years. My thoughts and prayers are with the entire family during this time of loss. Soon the sadness will pass. Your hearts will be filled with the wonderful family memories shared with Tom and forever yours.
With our deepest sympathy,
Pat & Gord Deane & Family

Heather and Don Peacock (Cousin)

Entered April 10, 2018 from North Port, Florida

Tom, you an inspiration to us, all!! You are loved and admired by many people who knew you . You will be sadly missed Tom by everyone who knew you!
Love you always, Tom❤
Heather and Don

Sarah and Michael Galler (Sister and Brother in Law)

Entered April 10, 2018 from Auburn NH

I will miss you dearly Tom. You were a great big brother.

Sylvia Ireland (Business partners)

Entered April 10, 2018 from Houston, TX

I knew Mr. Cunningham through mutual partnership with the Napoleon Hill Foundation by way of Organo. Mr. Cunningham was an inspiration to me, and pushed me to a level I didn't know I could achieve. He made it no secret how much he loved and appreciated his wife and family. Whenever he made a new achievement we all celebrated with him. I am very sad that he is no longer with us, and that I didn't have the privilege to meet him in person. I admired his strength from afar, and his posts many times have given me strength, because he was vulnerable about his physical challenges. I just wanted to give Family, friends, and associates my sincerest and deepest condolences, and prayers of peace and comfort during this difficult time. Amen.

Pat and Livio Andreatta (Friends)

Entered April 10, 2018 from Benton Harbor, Michigan

Tom was an inspiration to many, and a friend to all. We are left with a void in our hearts.

When I hear “Uncle Tom”, I think of someone that would make you laugh until you were on the ground crying of laughter. I still remember him nagging me about how when I was younger, I’d hold Blue – one of their dogs – while going up … and down… and up… and down… on the thing he would sit on that brought him up and down the stairs. I’m 100% positive that both Blue and I enjoyed it. It was like an at-home rollercoaster!

I have so many memories of him at Gram Gram’s cottage, but I must admit, my favorite memory was when we were at Gram Gram’s cottage and me and my brother’s wanted to go swimming so we asked our parents, Autie Raine, Uncle Brian… but everybody was “not in the mood”. And Uncle Tom began “I’ll go! Call me Bob or tie me to the boat and call me a buoy! And he went on an on joking about calling him a buoy or tying him to the dock as a floaty. He had a sense of humor like no one I’ve met.

If I were to see him again, all I’d want to do is poke him (he liked to poke us as well don’t worry, and don’t forget about the wet-willies). I’d run and sit with the dogs and laugh hysterically at his jokes. I’d tell him how much I love him. (and maybe a week or so ago, I promised him that I’d read his book. I promise I will).

Lexa

First, I want to share with you a quote that Tom had recently shared on his social media.
"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom" - Marcel Proust
As we can see from the amount of support, love and prayers in this difficult time, Tom was certainly one of those gardeners. He lived in his words and from sun up to sun down, he made his mission to tend to people and help them grow in positivity and success.
The first time I met Tom, he sat in his office chair, typing away. I had no idea about what he did, or about the lessons he would eventually show me.
Tom and Kim encouraged me to move in with my daughter and for the first time in a very long time, I had a home. The love and patience they had for me was astounding.
As I said, Tom lived by his words. Determined to push his goals further, he woke up early, read, spoke and thought until he went to bed. He wanted everyone to see themselves as successful, positive beings despite flaws, obstacles and mistakes.
Tom who also went by POPS, never shied away from Helena, pausing from his work even for a moment to listen to her stories, watch her magic shows. I believe that Tom enjoyed her so much, because she always seemed to be enjoy making other's happy. It's a gift she has always possessed. Her cheerfulness and positivity was like a magnet.
I know Tom would have been the same way towards his future grandchild, Lucian Thomas, as well.
Tom was a giver of great advice about how complaining wasn't an option, proper word use, and
of course, his favourite word to describe himself" AMAZING".
Let us remember his determination, when the HABS score. Let us remember his smile when we hear his favourite word.
Let us remember his love and guidance when we hear a life altering quote.
Let us give back to Tom's legacy by simply remembering those little things that ring his name out.
Thank you all for remembering Tom with us today and tomorrow.

This is the amazing story of my brother, his family, and how God has blessed us in a mighty way
I realize that many of you here today knew and loved a man known as Amazing Tom or Tom2Tall, but I knew him always and only as my big-ish brother. Today is not the day to tell you about the many ways that we annoyed each other as brothers and sisters will, rather let me tell you about what I think is amazing about Tom and our life together as a family.
What is truly amazing about Tom is the way that God blessed him and in turn blessed our family and many of you here today. Here is what I mean:

Tom was born in Montreal where there were medical schools, a Children's hospital, and specialists. He was going to need these things and in fact life for Tom and our family would have been much different had we lived in a remote town without medical expertise. God was in the details of where we lived. I like to think that Tom's extreme case of Rheumatoid Arthritis was a source of training for every healthcare practitioner who cared for him over the 49 years of his disease and that his case gave them insights into how to treat other patients better.
Long before there was such a thing as "patient centered care"or "patient advocates", Tom had parents who believed that he could overcome the challenges that Rheumatoid Arthritis would throw at him. They let him do things that the doctors might have discouraged or would have dismissed as impossible. In an era where doctors were in charge and patients did as they were told, our parents parked their fears and encouraged Tom to try anything and everything that he wanted to do. With their support, Tom played sports, he was a cub, he spent summers cottaging in Muskoka, winters at the ski hill, he joined church youth groups and theatre groups, learned to drive even though his feet didn't quite reach the pedals and he could barely see over the dashboard. He had so many adventures. Best of all, thanks to our parents, he learned not to let arthritis define him. God blessed Tom with exactly the right Mom and Dad.
God blessed Tom with 2 sisters who never thought of him as a "patient" or an "Arthritis sufferer". He was just our brother and we loved him and treated him like anyone would treat their brother. True, it was normal in our family to spend days, weekends, evenings, or holidays in hospital rooms with him. Often Sarah or I would be in his hospital bed with him sharing the headphones and watching his TV. It was normal for us (well Sarah mostly) to help him put on or take off his socks, we brought his schoolwork home, and we looked after his newspaper route when he couldn't. Just like it was normal for Tom to tease us, blame stuff he did on us, make us go out in the cold to take shots on him so he could practice his goalie skills, and eventually to buy us beer when we were underage and to be an awesome uncle to our kids. God blessed Sarah and I with a fantastic family life where it was normal to lend a hand, to look after one another, and where we learned through Tom that adversity can be overcome with persistence, tenacity and teamwork. We are better women and Moms because of our life with Tom.
Tom has been surrounded by a cloud of witnesses throughout his life. Angels are abundant in his life story. Neighbours who looked after us when he was in hospital. Coaches and teammates who welcomed him. Teachers who figured out how to help a kid who missed more days at school than he attended. Doctors who were willing to try many new therapies to find Tom some relief. Friends who didn't judge and who stuck up for their small buddy. Youth leaders and pastors who kept him on the path. And of course he was blessed by his wonderful wife for the past 10 years. God brought the right people at the right time into Tom's life.
Tom was blessed with a salesman's talent of connecting with everyone he met. He came by this talent honestly and it was nurtured by our salesman father and many of Dad's contemporaries who employed, trained, and mentored Tom over the years. Tom loved to hear your story and could often be found in a corner asking questions, listening. Tom was also gifted with the spiritual gift of encouragement. He took his interest for life stories and learned to tell his own. This became a passion that he turned into a profession. Many of you have heard him speak at seminars, at patient support groups, at church events or have read his books. His recent work with the Napoleon Hill Foundation allowed Tom's story to be told to many audiences internationally and he has had a profound impact on thousands of people. God blessed Tom with the talent to be an encouragement to others - His struggles and pain have been transformed into motivation for others.
Finally, God blessed Tom with faith as big and deep as he needed to live in a body that was regularly insulted with pain and suffering. He and God had a deal. Just this one thing God; Rheumatoid Arthritis and that's it. Tom bore many trials in body and in spirit over the years and yet his faith grew and grew. He had times when he and God were at odds with how things were going, but still he believed and prayed and professed his faith to anyone who asked and sometimes to those who didn't. Those of us who knew him as a Christian man must surely see and believe that God is ever present and that he provides for our every need.
Tom had the right family, he lived in the right country and cities, he made good friends who have helped him in so many ways, and he had 100% certainty that God was with him in life and that in death he had a room prepared for him in God's house. He trusted
that God would call him home and not leave him in a body that was worn out. And God is good.
I picture Tom in a place where pain doesn't exist and where his body moves freely without any stiffness. He's having a chat with Jesus, maybe interviewing him. And I'm pretty sure that he is tall.

My son Tom Cunningham. Tom was born June 19, 1963. He was a healthy boy until a few weeks after his 5th birthday. We were at my parents, Gram and Pop's, cottage. Both Tom and Lorraine had a 2 or 3 day flu bug and 2 weeks later every joint in Tom's body was red and painful. It has never been decided whether the flu triggered his 49 years fighting rheumatoid arthritis but "fight" he did.
We lived north of Montreal at that time. Tom tried, and we encouraged him to live a "normal" boys life. He loved hockey and was the goalie on the neighbourhood team. When the arthritis was flaring up and he made a dive to stop a goal someone would have to stand him up again. The same help was needed when he played baseball! He hurt a lot but he chose to play his favorite sports anyway. Later, because Tom couldn't play sports, other than ball hockey, which he loved, he turned his passion to cheering for the Montreal Canadians hockey team which I am sure anyone that knew him was aware of. Even when he moved to Mississauga at about age 30 he was always a "Canadians" fan.
While his pain and stiffness was alleviated by prednisone it also slowed down his growth and at age 10 he had cataracts which were another side effect of taking prednisone. He required surgery and later contact lenses. We moved to Ottawa and he began being treated at the Ottawa Childrens Hospital where he was an inpatient many times. They organized gold injections for him. This has worked for some people but after a year it was obvious it wasn't working for Tom. Nor did any of the other treatments that were tried.
Over the many years of his struggles with pain, stiffness and surgeries Tom's life involved many, many doctors appointments, tests, Xrays and surgeries, none of which he liked. Beginning when he was 5 and being held down by a few adults so blood could be drawn from his arm Tom was always suspicious of doctors and the treatments they recommended.
Tom and I were very close mostly because of all the time we spent together over the many years of driving to appointments and his many surgeries. I spent a lot of time with him at his bedside before and after his many surgeries and too many hours to count sitting in Doctor's offices. When we moved to Ottawa I went back to school and took a Registered Nursing Assistant Program. That would be a Registered Practical Nurse now. Tom was a patient on the ward I worked on several times. But Tom was never very happy with all the appointments and treatments that were required to keep him functioning. I was his cheerleader and sometimes I was often the one that he got impatient and grumpy with but I knew he had to have a place to verbalize about his pain, his grief, and frustrations, and I was the person he spent the most time with.
When Tom turned about 20 he moved out with some friends while he was going to university. Fortunately his disease gave him some longer periods of freedom from pain and flare up as an adult. Tom always struggled with employment. He had some jobs he really loved and that was great for a few years but some surgery or a flare up would make it impossible to keep working full time and he would have to resign. He had a few jobs working from home, which was easier for him, but he really wanted to work out in the world and be with other people. He was always hopeful that he would be able to work, especially after he and Kim married. It was important to him to contribute to their home and life together. I understood his frustrations probably more than most of the family. Between fatigue and pain I was always aware of the struggle he had to live life like the rest of us did.
When he worked so hard to be a positive person and answered that he was "Amazing" when asked, I knew he wasn't. My heart was on edge for a good part of his 49 years and especially the few months before he died. It was very hard to follow his "positive" lead when I was so emotionally connected to him. I had to hide my feelings because he had no patience for me, or others, to be sad because he said we were not thinking positively. During his last months we had some very meaningful conversations about life, family, loving and our Christian faith. Both he and I shed some tears during these conversations and that was the first time I ever remember him crying. I shed lots of tears over the many years of his pain and suffering but not him!!
He never had a doubt about the message Jesus taught us and he was committed to being a faithful Christian. It was very special to have those conversations with Tom. In April I knew he was very sick but did not expect him to die. He had been through so many crisis over the years so dying at 54 was a shock to say the least. Thank God for Lorraine who was able to drive him to many of his appointments right up until he was admitted to Mount Sinai. Kim worked as much as possible during this time with, Lorraine's help, and thankfully Lorraine kept Kim and us informed after each appointment. She also helped Tom and the rest of us understand how sick he was and what treatment was needed.
I am still shocked and sad that he died especially after so many medical issues he faced in his life. It just doesn't seem fair! I think of him often but know that he is now living a healthy life enjoying all the things he loved. Even in his last hour he told us not to be sad because God had a place for him. How can a mother not be sad and brokenhearted when her son dies?

He loved Jesus with all his heart, mind and soul, and he did his best to live his life to bring glory to Christ.

He gave generously and joyfully of his time, money and wisdom to help others.

He cherished and loved his family and friends above all.

He encouraged people to make a difference with their lives.

He encouraged people to live positively with the challenges life throws their way.