Funeral service for Justin Cunningham, age 27, of Gering, Nebraska, formerly of Bloomfield, Nebraska will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, February 19, 2018, at First Trinity Lutheran Church in Bloomfield. Reverend Jacob Bobby will officiate, with burial in Bloomfield City Cemetery. Brockhaus Funeral Home in Bloomfield is in charge of arrangements.

Justin died Sunday, February 11, 2018, at McKee Medical Center in Loveland, Colorado.

Justin David Cunningham, son of Gail and Suzanne (Peters) Cunningham was born on April 6, 1990, in Yankton, South Dakota. He attended Bloomfield High School and graduated third in his class in 2008. He attended South Dakota State University from 2008-2014, graduating with his Doctorate of Pharmacy. He was a member of First Trinity Lutheran Church in Bloomfield, NE. He was also a member of the Kappa Psi Fraternity at SDSU. He was involved in the World Series of Team Roping (USTRC); Wrangler Ropings, and the NTR. He died on February 11, 2018, in Loveland, CO, at the age of 27.


He is survived by his parents, Gail and Suzanne Cunningham of Bloomfield; brother and sister-in-law, Dalton and Shaunna (Watts) Cunningham of Bloomfield; long-time girlfriend, Abby Kijowski and their precious corgi, Maizy; his maternal grandmother, Sharon Peters of Bloomfield; paternal grandmother, Elda Cunningham of Wausa; aunts and uncles, Dwain and Brenda (Peters) Larson of Norfolk, Doug and Deb (Clarkson) Cunningham of Omaha, LaVonne Cunningham of Kirkland, WA, Jeff and Vicky (Cunningham) Erickson of York, Dave and Linda (Folck) Cunningham of Wausa, Tom Suhr of Wausa, Toni (Cunningham) Prince of Osmond, Curtis and Elizabeth (Cunningham) Maertins of Osmond; his god-daughter, Saige Cunningham, (daughter of Dallas and Chelsie Cunningham) of Mitchell, SD; and many, many cousins and dear, dear friends.



He was preceded in death by his great-grandparents, Walter and Esther Frahm, Louie and Ella Peters, Irwin and Elizabeth Jensen, and Earl and Grace Cunningham; maternal grandfather, David Peters; paternal grandfather, Dean Cunningham; and aunt, Terri Suhr.


Justin participated in the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association from 2004-2008. He was a team roper and a saddle bronc rider. He was on the National Nebraska High School Rodeo Saddle Bronc Team in 2007. Justin was an avid team roper. He qualified to rope in Las Vegas in 2016 and 2017 in the World Series Team Roping Finals. His proudest moment was winning the #8 roping in Cheyenne, WY in 2016, during Cheyenne Frontier Days. He also loved practice roping at Jobman Arena in Bayard, NE. He never forgot a face. Justin can best be described as extremely intelligent, outgoing, and eager to talk to everyone about anything. He could argue with the best of them. He was a true HUSKER fan and Husker football season ticket holder. He loved his brother like no one can imagine, he surely was his biggest fan. He was completely honored to have been his best man at his wedding in 2017. He was also very close to his parents and long-time girlfriend, Abby Kijowski. Justin loved Abby very much, as they were soul mates and had many plans for a long and happy future together. He was an accomplished pharmacist with a very bright career ahead of him. He worked at Bloomfield Pharmacy and Osmond Hospital before working for K-mart. He was one of the youngest district managers that K-mart ever had-managing up to 26 stores in 6 states. At the time of his death, he was working as a pharmacist for Safeway-Albertson’s in Alliance, NE while living on his acreage in Gering, NE with Abby and their beloved dog, Maizy. He won his last team-roping event on February 10, 2018 in Loveland, CO. He certainly was a champion in all-aspects of his life.