Alfred L. Cuming

Mount Pleasant Alfred L. Cuming, age 96, died January 15, 2015, at Somerby of Mount Pleasant, SC. Al was born July 8, 1918, in New York City. He is the son of Alfred L. Kohn and Alice Gordon Cuming, all of New York. He was married to Mary Elizabeth Sterling of Ridgefield, Conn. and fathered Pete Cuming of Awendaw and Ehrhardt, SC, and Linda Cuming (Lin) Lewis of Mount Pleasant. His second wife was Mary Beatrice Hunter Flanagan of Athens, Georgia, and Al is survived by her son James Flanagan, his grandchildren Jay (Heather) and Tia (Brian) Flanagan, and two great grandsons, Broc and Gage Flanagan. He is survived by his granddaughter Jill (Kurt) Kruger of James Island, SC, and Lindsay (Linda Elizabeth) (Chuck) Cuming of Ehrhardt, and his grandson Kenneth Cuming of Awendaw. He is also survived by his nephew, John (Pam) Cuming and his great niece Samantha, of Boston, Mass and by Heather, Roberta and David (Marcia) Rumsey. Al was predeceased in death by his dear brother William Randolph Cuming. Al’s career began as a farm manager in St. Albans, Vermont, where he milked the largest herd of purebred Guernsey cows in the state of Vermont at the time. He eventually moved into creameries and distribution of milk, then sanitation chemicals for milk production. He retired as a sales manager for BioLab after a very successful career there. Immediately after retiring, he bought a beef herd and started farming again. Al was very active in the pheasant and waterfowl breeding program and was sought after as a speaker all over the world. He lectured in Canada, Scotland, and other countries, and negotiated for a time with the Chinese government about releasing pheasants back into the wild. He had an extraordinarily high hatch rate and was very knowledgeable about avian health, hatch, and disease states. He was a past president of the American Pheasant and Waterfowl Society and of the Georgia Game Bird Breeders. He enjoyed this hobby for many years. Al’s passion for the Elder Mill covered bridge and Rose Creek are legendary; Jimmy Carter, as governor of Georgia, once wrote Al a check on the spot when Al asked him for highway funding to repair the bridge. His community service in Watkinsville, Georgia, his adopted home for 45 years, was well known and if something needed to be done, and Al was on the committee, you could be sure it would be done. Al lived an exemplary life for 96 years and will be sorely missed by his legion of friends and his relatives. There will be a memorial service in Watkinsville, Georgia, at a time to be announced. Expressions of sympathy may be viewed or submitted online at www.McAlister-Smith.com . Arrangements have been entrusted to McALISTER-SMITH FUNERAL HOME, MT PLEASANT CHAPEL, 1520 RIFLE RANGE ROAD, MT PLEASANT, SC (843) 884-3833.