Bulldog Cunningham is an Independent Insurance Agency representing many different companies for your insurance needs. We carefully selected our carriers to provide you with the best level of service, price, and coverage. As independent insurance agents, you have the ability to choose the best carrier for your insurance needs. That is the main advantage of using an independent insurance agency; we work to satisfy your needs. We continue our legacy from our founder and father; Bill Lee “Bulldog” Cunningham continued the tenacious legacy of his mother and grandmother throughout his decades in the insurance business and civic leadership in Dallas.
Wounded three times while serving as a Marine in Korea, he received only one Purple Heart. He shunned recognition of two later injuries so as not to rouse his mother’s concern.
As a civilian, he was a sales leader throughout his 62 years as an insurance agent, while fulfilling his devotion to his East Dallas community.
Cunningham was born in Dallas, where he was a noted football lineman at Woodrow Wilson High School. His coach gave him the nickname Bulldog for his build and tenacity. He graduated from Woodrow in 1949 and received a football scholarship to Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls.
The nickname could just as well have applied to Cunningham’s grandmother, said his son Vickers Lee Cunningham, a senior state district judge in Dallas.
“His grandmother was a little five-foot-oh, little bitty woman, and all three of those boys were scared to death of her,” Vickers Cunningham said of his dad and two uncles.
Cunningham played one season at Midwestern before enlisting in the Marines. He served in Korea as a master gunnery sergeant and tank commander.
His first injury — in the fall of 1952 — occurred when he was hit by grenade shrapnel. His name was listed in Dallas newspapers among war casualties. He spent weeks recovering in a hospital before being sent back to combat.
Meanwhile, back in Dallas, his mother received no follow-up news.
“She couldn’t get any information about whether he was dead or alive or what,” Vickers Cunningham said. “She raised hell with whomever it took to get a radio-telephone call to Korea.”
Cunningham’s commander in Korea got the call and pulled the Marine off the line to talk to his mother in Dallas via radio telephone. Cunningham was subsequently wounded twice, and each time he requested, then no paperwork be filed “‘because I don’t want that to hit the newspaper. My mother raised enough hell the last time,’” his son recalled his father saying.
After his third wound, Cunningham completed his military service as a drill sergeant at Camp Pendleton in California.
While on leave from the San Diego base, Cunningham met his future wife, Mina Sue Pettey, at a Dallas dance. Immediately smitten, he arranged for a date the next night, arriving in his dress blues.
On another visit, Cunningham drove his 1948 Buick straight through from San Diego to Dallas, leaving the Marine base on Friday afternoon for a Saturday evening date with Pettey. Unable to return to Camp Pendleton by Monday morning, he was listed AWOL.
He was honorably discharged in January 1954, and married Pettey six months later.
In civilian life, Cunningham immediately got into the insurance business, selling policies for Fidelity Union Life Insurance. His older brother, Hayden, introduced him to the business. He dropped Cunningham off on Lovers Lane one morning and told him he’d pick him up at dark. In those days, agents sold insurance and collected the monthly payments.
Working for Fidelity Union Life helped foster Cunningham’s civic involvement. He served on the Dallas Planning and Zoning Commission and was vice-chairman of the Dallas Citizens Review Board, secretary of the North Texas Crime Commission, and a board member with Habitat for Humanity. He was a foreman of the Dallas County grand jury.
Cunningham was later an agent for Farmers Insurance and joined Safeco Insurance when he was 80. He was a top performer throughout his career and worked up until about three weeks before his death.
Our goal is to educate and service the DFW Lakewood community and throughout the State of Texas. Through our independence, we strive to educate the community on the best options for their insurance needs. We can provide an assessment of your insurance needs with a choice of which package fits you best.
We are dedicated to providing our clients in Texas with the best coverage at competitive rates. Just make one call to our agency, and we can shop your coverage through many top-rated companies. With our licensed staff, we can be your liaison with the insurance carrier in the event of a claim. We work for you, not the insurance company.
We want you to have a positive overall experience with Bulldog Cunningham. Our one on one service approach is our #1 goal for all our insurance clients.
Today Judge Vickers Cunningham continues the “Bulldog” legacy serving his community with insurance and his law firm.