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The family of David Peter Cummings uploaded a photo
Friday, July 10, 2020
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Maria Infield posted a condolence
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Rest In Peace, Uncle Peter. I’ve been struggling finding the words to process your passing. I hope you know that we learned a lot from you including kindness, understanding, how to endure things out of our control, unconditional love, and of course basketball statistics. We love you. Until we meet again please give a hug to Grandpa from all of us.
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Thursday, June 4, 2020
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Eulogy of David Peter Cummings
by big brother Don
Pete was born June 9, 1958, the seventh child of Donald and Betty Cummings. Next Tuesday would have been his 62nd Birthday. His actual name was David Peter Cummings, I have never known why we called him Pete.
As the baby of the family, Pete had a lot of bars set for him by his older siblings. There were a lot of things he felt he had to measure up to. And in the early years of his life, he was successful at measuring up. He had a competitive edge - this drove him to achieve excellent grades in school and perform exceptionally well in sports. He was well on his way to excelling ahead of his older siblings until around his sophomore year of high school, he got sick. From this point on, his life took a different path. Even in sickness, he never lost his determination. He worked hard the remaining years of high school to graduate with his class.
Although it was difficult for him, I don't think he ever lost that determination.
Throughout the later years of his life, he remained a kind, gentle, and loving person. He always had a sense of humor. When you visited him at the different places he lived, he was always glad to see you and never wanted you to leave. Even though it was sometimes hard to communicate with him, if you said something funny, you could see the humor in his eyes and in his expression.
I remember a time many years ago when we were moving Mother out of our Johnson Rd house. It was a hot day and there had been a lot of hard work to load the truck. Pete was there that day and I think had been talking non-stop, probably making us a little frustrated. As John and I were getting ready to drive off with the truck, he put up his hand to stop us and came up to the window. I thought, now what! He reached in, handed me $.75, and said "Get yourselves some ice cream." I looked at John. I don't think we stopped laughing for at least 10inutes. A perfect example of his generosity, even though he didn't have much.
He always got a monthly stipend while he was living at different facilities. I think he used to spend most of it on treats for his friends.
Another word that describes Pete over the years is BASKETBALL. He never lost his love for this sport from very early on to his later years. Larry Bird was his hero and the Celtics were his team. He could recite statistics about the Boston Celtics and most of the NBA teams right off the top of his head.
I heard that whenever he was around two of his nephews, who were pretty decent players, he would raise his hand as high as he could making them do the same, to show them he could reach higher. He was sending them the message that he could probably still out rebound them..
When he was living at Mother's, and you visited, he always wanted to play HORSE. And he won most of the time.
I was at an RIT basketball gat last winter and saw the RIT coach, Bob McVean in the hallway before the game. Bob had coached at Byron Bergen when he was just out of college and starting his coaching career. I walked up to him, said hi, and introduced myself. I told him I had grown up in Bergen. He asked if I was related to Kevin, Paul, and Pete. When I said yes, the first thing he said was "How's Pete doing?" That is a pretty good testament to the impression Pete had made on Bob long ago.
Pete played in a Christmas tournament at Oakfield when he was a Freshman on the JV team. He won MVP of that tournament. If Pete hadn't gotten sick, I am convinced he would have been one of the top basketball players in Byron-Bergen history.
Pete lived in many different places outside of the home over the years. It is fitting that the last one, Elderwood of Lakeside at Brockport was without a doubt the best of all of them. The staff there readily embraced him and really brought out his positive characteristics:
His Caring
His Generosity
His Humor
His Kindness
A heartfelt thanks goes out to them for making the last years of his life a good experience.
I would like to thank everyone here for all they have done for Pete over the years.
There is something else that needs to be said, someone else to thank. I know there are not a lot of medals that get handed out for good Mothering, but there is a lot that are deserved. Mother was there for Pete during all the difficult years. Whenever he was having a rough time, she hung in there and always tried to make sure he had everything he needed. She sacrificed in many ways during his life to ensure Pete had as good a life as possible.
I am sure if we think hard enough, we all will realize there are many lessons Peter taught us.
Thank you Pete - Love you forever