Ventura County
Biographies
THOMAS
EDWARD CUNNANE, M.D.
For many years Dr. Thomas Edward
Cunnane was accounted one of the foremost representatives of the medical
profession in Ventura but he is now retired, save for his public service as a
councilman of the city, in which capacity he has acted since 1927. He was born in Sturgeon, Boone county [sic], Missouri, May 3, 1866, a son of Bartholomew
and Margaret (Mullaney) Cunnane, and is of Irish lineage. The family came to California in 1889,
settling first at Santa Ynez, later removed to Santa
Barbara, where the parents spent their remaining years. Their son, J. B. Cunnane, is a prominent
druggist of Santa Barbara. His brother,
Dr. W. B. Cunnane, also a well-known resident of that city, passed away in
1927.
Dr. Thomas E. Cunnane is one of six
children, four sons and two daughters, and but three are now living. His high school education was acquired in
Moberly, Missouri, after which he took a pharmaceutical course, and was
identified with the drug business in California until he was twenty-three years
of age. He enrolled as a student in the
Cooper Medical College, now a part of Stanford University at Palo Alto, and was
graduated with the class of 1893. He
opened an office in Santa Ynez, practicing there for
five years, and in 1899 removed to Ventura, becoming associated with Dr.
Bard. Thorough and painstaking in
diagnosis, Dr. Cunnane accurately applied his scientific knowledge to the needs
of his patients, who had the utmost confidence in his skill. Older men in the profession relied upon his
judgment and younger ones frequently sought his advice and counsel. Elected county physician, his services were
so satisfactory that he was continued in the office for ten years. He practiced successfully in Ventura for many
years, retiring in 1924. His beautiful
residence, close to the main highway, is located on what was at one time a
valuable walnut ranch of sixty acres, part of which has been subdivided and
improved with a number of fine homes. A
portion of the tract was also sold to the city for the grounds of the Junior
College, which adjoins Dr. Cunnane’s property.
On the 12th of May, 1895,
Dr. Cunnane was married to Miss Ellen F. Blair, who was born in Virginia but
was reared in Santa Barbara. A lady of
culture and refinement, she was a teacher in the Santa Ana school in Ventura
county [sic] before her marriage. To Dr.
and Mrs. Cunnane were born two daughters: Eugenia Margaret, who is Mrs. Carroll
Wright of Des Moines, Iowa, and has one child; and Virginia, the wife of E. A. Pensinger, of Santa Barbara, and the mother of two
children.
Dr. Cunnane is a communicant of the
Roman Catholic Church, and his fraternal affiliations are with the Knights of
Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Progressive and public-spirited, he has proved
his devotion to this community by actual achievements in its behalf. He was a member of the local school board for
a quarter of a century and its president for twenty years. Elected to the common council he served for
four years, from 1927 to 1931, and when a vacancy occurred in 1932, he was
again chosen a member of that civic body.
Working at all times for the best interests of the municipality, he has
exerted his influence to secure needed reforms and improvements in the administration
of its affairs and the worth of his public service is uniformly conceded.
Transcribed by Jeanne Turner.
Source: California
of the South Vol. II,
by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 387-388,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles,
Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 Jeanne
Turner.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S VENTURA BIOGRAPHIES