Supposedly a secret, it certainly was such for the former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice and 56th Circuit Judge Bill Cunningham.
But for a packed gallery at Eddyville’s Lyon County Judicial Center Monday afternoon, there was no shock and awe whatsoever. Only applause and admiration, when family removed a black curtain from the left wall of the court room — and unveiled an exact rendition of Cunningham’s portrait from the state capitol.
A proud Lyon County native and true vestige of “Old Eddyville,” Cunningham admittedly had fewer words than usual about the bestowed honor.
As his former Commonwealth’s Attorney, it was G.L. Ovey who “filed the motion” for this nod to Cunningham.
He remembered first meeting Cunningham in person in 1968, as a junior at Lyon County High School then working at a little Standard Oil gas station and grocery for Sid and Ruby Scott.
Cunningham, Ovey said, had been in the local paper often even then — writing articles about Eddyville’s relocation. And the Scotts, on this particular day, were pleased the future law man had stopped in for a visit.
Serendipity and circumstance would have its way years later, when Ovey, too, went to law school, and eventually became Cunningham’s Commonwealth Attorney.
It’s those 15 years together, Ovey said, he would remember “as long as he lived.”
Most of Cunningham’s immediate family were present, and it was son, Joe — known litigator and South Carolinian Democrat politician — who spoke lovingly on their behalf.
He called his father “balanced and fair,” regardless of money in the pocket, or color of the skin.
Though Paducah native and current 1st District Supreme Court Justice Christopher Shea Nickell couldn’t be present, he sent strong words of endorsement through the court’s panel of 56th Circuit Judge Jamus Redd, District Judges Matt Schalk and Brandon Knoth, as well as Court of Appeals Judge Chris McNeill.
They were read by 56th Circuit Judge Natalie White, describing Cunningham as someone who could “consider soberly, and decide impartially.”
Responsible for his state capitol portrait first revealed in 2019, Tom Edgerton of Greensboro, North Carolina was also commissioned for this rendition.
FULL PRESENTATION:
