Theora sadly passed away following an accidental fall in her home, specifically her sewing room. Although she wasn\u2019t sewing at the time of her passing, it was one of her favorite hobbies. Theora was 76 years old. A woman of kindness, determination and love, Theora was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and friend who liked garden fairies, fleur-de-lis and the color purple.<\/p>\n
Theora was born on August 25, 1949, in Liberal, KS to Theodore and Cynthia (Soldan) Cunningham. She was the second child and first daughter of four children.\u00a0 She moved with her family to Albany, OR eventually settling in Sumner, WA where she graduated from Sumner High School in 1967. She shared her musical talents as a member of the Sumner High School Band, playing both the flute and piccolo.<\/p>\n
Possessing a sharp mind and exceptional office skills like typing and stenography, Theora began her career in 1966 as a part-time legal secretary for an attorney in Sumner until she graduated from high school. Her first full-time job was as a Secretary for The Boeing Company, where she worked until she married her first husband, US Army soldier, Larry Wallace, on February 1, 1969.\u00a0 During their 19 years of marriage, she embraced the life of an Army spouse while they were stationed at Fort Hood, TX, Fort Lewis, WA, and a couple of bases in Germany (Kaiserslautern, Mannheim & Frankfurt). Their daughter, Tia, was born on March 24, 1970, while stationed at Fort Lewis, WA.<\/p>\n
Her first job after returning to WA from Texas was as a Secretary in the Admissions Office at Pacific Lutheran University. She dedicated the rest of her career to public service, working for the Federal Government in various secretarial\/receptionist and accounting positions.<\/p>\n
The US Forest Service in Fortine Forest District, MT was one of her favorite jobs. She loved educating visitors who came to the Ranger Station and gifting \u201cSmokey Bear\u201d swag to children. She liked traveling to places like Florida with the buying team and purchasing supplies for the forest fire crews.<\/p>\n
Her employment with the FAA across from the SeaTac Airport in WA was probably another one of her favorites because that\u2019s where she met her second husband, Robert \u201cBob\u201d Schwegel, an Air Traffic Controller in the US Army. They married on June 24, 1989, in Tacoma, WA, gaining a stepdaughter, Julie, in the process. After Bob\u2019s retirement from the Army, they moved to his home state of Montana, where she resided for the remainder of her life. Theora had an affinity for the Victorian era; she and Bob were able to purchase her dream home in 2009 in Helena which was built in 1889 and resembled that era. They lived their last years in this house until each of their passing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Theora retired from the VA Healthcare System at Fort Harrison in 2014. As a Purchasing Agent and Payroll Technician in the Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Department, she worked tirelessly to ensure veterans received the hearing aids they needed.<\/p>\n
She was a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Auxiliary and a former member of the Grange. Other interests of hers included crocheting, stitchery, gardening, reading and recycling. She had a subscription to the Independent Record of Helena mainly so that she could complete the crossword puzzles without help. She was a master of shorthand and enjoyed watching shows like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune because she was wicked fast at figuring out the answers. Publisher\u2019s Clearing House had her number too!<\/p>\n
Her favorite holidays were Halloween and Christmas when she would decorate, dress up, and delight in the neighborhood kids coming for candy. She was renowned for her perfectly wrapped gifts and baked holiday treats-including her \u201cchurch windows,\u201d chocolate chip or oatmeal sugar cookies, rocky road brownies, no-bake cookies and peppermint Rice Krispy treats. She cooked the best goulash\/slumgullion, ham hock and beans, world-famous cowgirl beans, meatloaf, potato soup, rumtopf, apple butter, peach pie, and bundt cakes.<\/p>\n
Theora was preceded in death by her husband, Bob Schwegel; her parents, Ted and Cindy Cunningham; and her brother, Philip (Phil) Cunningham. She is survived by her daughter, Tia (Ray) Long of Graham, WA; stepdaughter, Julie (Shane) O\u2019Shea of Coeur d\u2019Alene, ID; her beloved grandchildren, Logan Long of Graham, WA; Cassidy (Chase) Harter of Graham, WA; Raymond (Tara) Long of Spanaway, WA; Kayla (Craig) Newton of Chesapeake, VA; Jordan (Joe) Schwegel of Seattle, WA; and Conor (Alaura) O\u2019Shea of Coeur d\u2019Alene, ID; and her great- grandchildren, Korra, Darcy, Colter and \u201cCodi,\u201d who is expected soon. She is also survived by her brother, Terry (Cathy) Cunningham; sister, Melanie Cunningham; and many extended family members.<\/p>\n
Theora will be interred with her husband at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, WA on Friday, April 24, 2026, at 11:00 AM. A celebration of her life will follow at 3:00 PM at the home of her daughter, Tia. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the VFW or VA Hospital in her name.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Schwegel-Theora-1.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","service_status":"public","event_title1":"Graveside Service","event_date1":"2026-04-24","start_time1":"11:00 a.m.","end_time1":"","location1":"Tahoma National Cemetery","address1":"","city1":"Kent","state1":"Washington","zipcode1":"","event_title2":"Celebration of Her Life","event_date2":"2026-04-24","start_time2":"Following the Graveside Service","end_time2":"","location2":"Tia's Home","address2":"","city2":"","state2":"","zipcode2":"","event_title3":"","event_date3":"","start_time3":"","end_time3":"","location3":"","address3":"","city3":"","state3":"","zipcode3":"","event_title4":"","event_date4":"","start_time4":"","end_time4":"","location4":"","address4":"","city4":"","state4":"","zipcode4":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/32759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}