William J. Cunningham III (October 20, 1915 â May 21, 2009) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1965 to 1971.
Cunningham was born in Swanwick, Illinois, in 1915, and attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He served in the United States Army Adjutant General's Corps during World War II.
Cunningham was a businessman in Pinckneyville, Illinois. He was elected the town's mayor in 1951, and was re-elected three times. In 1964, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives for the first of three terms.
In 1940, Cunningham married Virginia McElroy; they had two children and divorced in 1972. Cunningham lived in Pinckneyville and attended a local United Methodist Church. He died at a hospital in Du Quoin, Illinois, on May 21, 2009, at the age of 93.