Waldo B. Cumings

Wally Cumings, age 77, died June 19th at home following a long period of declining health. Waldo Bernard Cumings first child of Waldo George Cumings and Josephine Augusta (Parkinson) Cumings entered this world February 7, 1938, in Tewksbury, MA, on his grandmother's kitchen table on a copy of the Lowell Sun.

The oldest of five children, Wally was raised by a mother who contracted tuberculosis while serving as a nurse at the Tewksbury State Hospital and a self-educated father who worked in many places to support his family including on the WPA project at the Franklin Dam. The children were frequently farmed out during their mother's numerous hospitalizations and Wally learned early the life lesson - "If someone else can do it - you can do it". He helped build several family homes in his youth, acquiring knowledge of construction, engineering and problem solving; skills he continued to use throughout his life.

Wally graduated high school early entering the US Air Force in 1955. While in the Air Force, he trained and served as an air traffic controller leading him to a career with the FAA. Wally worked in Air Traffic Control for nearly 25 years at a number of FAA centers including Albany, Logan and Boston Center in Nashua until he was fired by President Ronald Reagan in 1981along with all other Air Traffic Controllers striking for safety and fairness as part of their PATCO union (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization)

Wally was active in PATCO as an organizer and negotiator. He continued to be a union activist throughout his work life; passing on to others the tenets of organizing people for their own cause and giving voice to the concerns of workers.

Following the PATCO strike, Wally held several jobs including working as a laborer on the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant and operating his own labor relations consulting firm before being hired by the National Education Association of New Hampshire (NEA-NH) in 1982 as a union representative and advocate. As UniServ Director for Region I and then the Capital Region of NEA NH he was a pioneer in the use of laptop computers in contract negotiations while representing teacher and school support staff unions for 25 years prior to retiring in 2007.

Wally was an early graduate of the Trade Union Program at Harvard University in Cambridge MA. Many labor relations cases establishing the rights of NH public employees bear his name as the advocate representing the union. The employees he represented as well as his management opposites knew him as a tireless advocate.

Wally moved to New Hampshire in 1978 living in New Boston, Georges Mills, Penacook and retiring to Moultonborough in 2006.
Prior to suffering a debilitating stroke in 2010, Wally was a strong active man, always doing something he loved - building, cooking, sailing, fishing, reading, listening to music, entertaining family and friends, enjoying the outdoors, the ocean and loving his dogs. Wally especially loved being on or near the water and time spent at the family camp on Cow Island, Lake Winnipesaukee.

He is predeceased by his parents, and his sister-in-law, Karen Paddleford Houser.

Wally is survived by his beloved wife, best friend, and partner of 25 years, Janet Paddleford; his children Rick Cumings, Mark Cumings and wife Doris, Carolyn Henry and her husband Steve; his family by marriage Kathy Kennedy and her husband Ted, Frank Loto and his wife Judy; twelve grandchildren who filled his life with joy; his brothers, Francis (Skip) Cumings and his wife Pat, Ron Cumings and his wife Karen, Richard Cumings and his wife Nancy; his sister, Kathy Stone and her husband Robert (Stoney); his sister in law Cindy Taylor and her husband Dave; his former wife and mother of his children, Jean Cumings; and his parents in law John and Charlotte Paddleford. Wally is also survived by many nieces and nephews, and he will be missed by many friends and colleagues.

Wally's life was marked by a strong sense of social justice. He continued to follow and feel strongly about world and local events through reading the newspaper until his final days. He would encourage all of us to be involved in things that matter and to make a difference. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to a social justice cause, an organization that supports family care givers or Hospice.