Lesley Jeanne Simpson Cunningham

Lesley Jeanne Simpson Cunningham of Boise, Idaho passed away on Jan. 1, 2024 at the age of 71 and is now free of her battle with cancer.

 The youngest of three children, Lesley was born on Dec. 16, 1952 in Ephrata, Wash. to Jim and Kt Simpson.  

 Her family later moved to Weiser, Idaho, where her father purchased a small town newspaper. 

 She graduated from Weiser High School in 1971. In school, Lesley was known to be outgoing, thoughtful, and caring. She made many friends that she cherished until her passing.  After graduation, she attended Idaho State University. 

 On April 21, 1973, Lesley married the love of her life, Mike “Mr. C” Cunningham and spent nearly 51 years living a wonderful and joyous life together. 

 Lesley and Mike had two girls, Kt Aegerter, Frederickson, Wash., and Kelly (Joe) Brown, Boise, Idaho, and lived a life filled with travel, friends, laughter, love, scrapbooking, and Barbies. She and Mike felt that one of their greatest dreams was realized when their daughters graduated from Boise State University.

 Lesley had a passion for writing and had her own column at the age of 14 for the Weiser Signal. She continued this passion as Editor-in-Chief of Albertson’s weekly newsletter. She loved to tell the story of how convenient it was to pick up fresh groceries at work every night for dinner. She was an HR manager for an office products company for several years before eventually joining her husband in working for the Boise School District. Throughout all those years she always found time to create scrapbooks for the people in her life. She had an incredible way of preserving memories to enjoy forever.

 Lesley retired from the Boise School District as the assistant to the Special Education Supervisor and spent the rest of her life pursuing her passions. 

 Those years were packed with rafting adventures, spending time at the cabin she and Mike built, and planning How to Host a Murder Mystery Parties.  She and Mike loved going on vacation together and were able to take one final trip to Hawaii before her passing.  

 She was a devoted wife and mother, and the joy of her life was her five grandchildren. Lesley always said she knew her purpose in life when she became a Nonie. 

 Her favorite hobby was collecting Barbies; she spent years building an extraordinary collection.

 People who knew Lesley admired her strength, her perseverance, her patience, and her love for others. She always made everyone feel welcome and provided stability and reliability for her family and friends. Lesley was “one in a million.”

 Lesley was preceded in death by her parents, Jim and Kt Simpson, and her sister and brother-in-law Kathy and Burt Pierce.  

 She is survived by her husband, Mike “Mr. C” Cunningham, her brother and sister-in-law Jim (Betty) Simpson, her children, Kt Aegerter and Kelly (Joe) Brown, her grandchildren, Kohl Aegerter, Kenadee Aegerter, Kaytlynn Aegerter, Rylee Brown, and Brooklyn Brown, her nieces Becca (Andy) Hite and Jaimie (Andrew) Daudt, her nephews Alex (Gloria) Sisco and Tom (Holly) Simpson, and grandnephews, Griffin, James, Taylor, Marcus, Raiden, and Sully.

 Services will be held at Cloverdale Funeral Home in Boise, Idaho on Jan. 12, 2024 at 11 a.m.  There will be a private family viewing from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and a public viewing from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the day of the service.  

 A reception will be held following the service at the Idaho Outdoor Association, 3401 Brazil St., Boise ID 83715 from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.