Chicago City Council March 23, 2022
MEMORIAL RESOLUTION FOR STEVE CUNNEEN
WHEREAS, The members of the City Council are deeply saddened by the recent passing of longtime Rogers Park resident Steve Cunneen; and
WHEREAS, As a Rogers Park resident of nearly fifty years, Steve lived for decades in a classic, Chicago three-flat on the 6600 block of North Newgard Avenue; and
WHEREAS, Steve Cunneen owned and operated a bar in Rogers Park for almost 50 years, and that bar exemplified the positive values of Chicago in general and Rogers Park in particular; and
WHEREAS, Cunneen's welcomed everyone and served as a refuge for many, exemplifying the race, gender, sexual orientation, and class diversity of Rogers Park; and
WHEREAS, The bar was also open to people who felt unwelcome elsewhere; Steve insisted that unhoused people deserved to be treated with dignity, and so could use the bathrooms, or just get a glass of water and a chance to warm up in cold weather - He treated everyone with respect; and
WHEREAS, Steve Cunneen was a person who also exemplified Chicago values. He was a self-made man from a modest background, and operated his own small independent business; and
WHEREAS, A long-time bachelor, he married late in life and was a dedicated family man who proved that it's never too late to grow; and
WHEREAS, He was a musician and a woodworker who generously made furniture, framed pictures, and did custom stained-glass work for his employees and bar regulars; and
WHEREAS, These are the values of Rogers Park and Chicago at their finest, and from 1972 till his death in 2022, Steve Cunneen presided over this vital neighborhood "third place"; and
WHEREAS, He remained in sync with the neighborhood and its values, as his bar has endured. As recently as the 1990s, there were seven taverns on Devon Avenue between Broadway and the east side of Clark Street; Cunneen's is the last of its kind; and
WHEREAS, His beloved wife Belinda has now stepped up to ensure Cunneen's...
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