Willia Laverta Cunningham was born October 17, 1912 in Princeton, Kentucky, the daughter of Elder Luther Spratt and Mabel Hendon Spratt. Willia was baptized at Bethlehem Temple in Detroit, Michigan, under the late Bishop S.N. Hancock. Imbued with the Holy Spirit, Willia was a robust woman who loved life. Having no children of her own, she cared for numerous foster children and provided mothering to all children she met. In the early 1960's, she was a Girl Scout leader at Main Street Elementary school. In the summer, she and her late husband, Robert Kemp, held Vacation Bible School, at their house on Lenawee Street. Willia was a bookkeeper at the Michigan School for the Blind and always brought children home to provide a week-end respite and a chance to sample her wonderful baked goods and spend time around the piano. Willia had interests that extended beyond the doors of her home. At an early age, she gave voice to the national civil rights movement. As a resident of Chicago, Illinois, she used her literary skills to expose the struggles of people of color. She was a reporter with the both the Chicago Defender [The Chicago Daily Defender], working with the renowned founder, John H. Sengstacke and later, with the Michigan Chronicle. She provided commentary on the dynamic events of the decades, in which the nation moved from apartheid to equality. She was a member of the NAACP and the Urban League, in the city of Lansing. Willia received a degree in Accounting from the University of Chicago. Willia was employed, for most of her career, with the State of Michigan and Wayne County Department of Social Services, although she engaged in various business and entrepreneurial pursuits. After marrying Marvin Cunningham, they retired and moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. Willia was preceded in death by: her second husband, Marvin; her father and mother; sister, Mittie Spratt Young; and brother, Luther, Jr. Willia passed away September 21, 2012, just short of reaching her 100th birthday. She is survived by her sisters, Tillie Spratt and Louise Spratt Taylor; and numerous nieces and nephews. Mrs. Cunningham will be having a memorial service Friday, September 28, 2012 at 11:00am at Riley Funeral Home.