Manhattan Beach's Longest Resident Dies

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA -- Pat Cunningham, Manhattan Beach's longest resident, died last Sunday. He was 98.

Cunningham moved to the city when he was 2 years old, fell in love with the city and never left, according to The Beach Reporter.

When Cunningham moved here in 1920, he arrived on a steam train. His family arrived at midnight and had to trek to his aunt's house on the wooden boardwalk, according to The Beach Reporter.

“Imagine my folks with their personal things … I had a sister and three brothers.” Cunningham told the Manhattan Beach Historical Society Pioneers in September 2015. “We all had to climb that hill, carrying all our stuff on this boardwalk at midnight.”

When his wife died eight years ago, his daughter tried to convince him to move to her home in Northern California, but he refused, according to The Beach Reporter.

Cunningham is survived by his brother William, daughter, Sue, and her husband Randy Boldt, three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

For more on this story, visit The Beach Reporter.

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