Cody Alan Bunning, Sr.'s Obituary
Cody Alan Bunning, Sr., 33, of Decatur, passed away Thursday, September 20, 2018, at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, surrounded by his loving family.
Cody was born February 18, 1985, in Decatur, to Michael Alan and Teresa R. (Stedman) Bunning.
He is survived by his three children, Jordon David Bunning, Cody Alan Bunning, Jr. and Chloe Raye Bunning; his mother, Teresa R. Bunning of Latham; his brother, Michael ‘Todd” (Melisa) Raber of Marion, IN; his sister, Marcia (Tim) Terrock of Clinton, IA; his maternal grandmother, Amelia Stedman of Filmore, IN; the love of his life, Ashlee Jones of Decatur, IL; and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his father, Michael Alan Bunning; his maternal grandfather and his paternal grandparents.
Funeral services to celebrate the life of Cody Bunning will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, September 26, 2018, at Graceland/Fairlawn Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, September 25, 2018, at the funeral home. Burial will be in Graceland Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to his children for their continual care.
Cody Alan Bunning was only 33 when God wanted him back. Only the Lord knows really why and
Only for us to have faith, pray and understand. He was the only son born to Michael A and Teresa R (Stedman) Bunning
Born 2/18/1985 on a bright and sunny 6:45 am Monday morning…after having a week of rain we had sunshine and a sweet little Angel.
He was a beautiful baby. He grew into an active, curious, fun and happy little boy with lots of energy.
He attended Little Peoples Preschool, Decatur Christian Grade school and Junior High. He went
Briefly to St. Teresa and EHS. Having left there he went on to get his GED with scores that exceeded the norm.
Cody was currently an employee of D & O Construction. Which he loved working there. He was really learning the trade. Especially drywall. He could fix anything and was always ready to jump in and help. He and his mother recently bought a fixer-upper and he had big plans to do all the remodeling and soon move in. The house was looking great and we were all so proud.
He grew into this wonderful man. Lots of hard work and taking on responsibilities; setting goals: Working hard, making money, making music and taking care of his family were the most important.
It’s so heart breaking that Cody had to leave this earth and his 3 little children behind. Jordon (J dog or Jordy) with Tommie Lynn York and Cody, Jr. (Codeman) and Chloe (my sweetie) with Ashlee Jones. They were the loves of his life. He was a loving father. The Best Dad Ever! He could do anything he put his mind to. His kids were his life. He did anything and everything to see them smile. The kids were his whole life.
During the school years Cody played baseball thru school and North West League for 9 years. He was quite the lefty- pitcher and was an awesome pitcher and also played first base. Batted right and could hit the ball out of the park. His pitching skills were self-taught with speed and accuracy. His dad bought him the fingerprint ball for pitching and he practiced for hours on end then, of course, dad needed to catch. He pitched too powerful for mom and she said NO!! He was MVP several years in a row and their teams won championships all along the way.
At EHS a couple scouts were looking at him for college…then he broke that hand!!
He played basketball some but mostly road the bench. He hated that. He was so wanting to get out there and he was good at it too.
Cody was always quite the artist. He could draw anything. He made up characters, made mazes too hard to figure out. He could take a tiny picture and blow it up on his own. That was something. He would draw and trace for hours.
He took keyboard lessons, guitar and flute but what stuck was the keyboard. He enjoyed playing the keyboard, writing music and songs. Putting that all together and recording in his home made production studio. He loved creating the beats and having friends (especially Mark) over to create new songs. He recently wrote a chorus with the music. It is just awesome. He shared it with friends to get their
reaction. Well you know it was great. His mother wrote a gospel poem and he was helping her with the music and that was going well.
After finding out that Cody was not to recover, we were approached by Gift of Hope about organ donating. Cody had signed the organ donor registry. Much to his mother’s surprise. She was so happy and proud that he would do such a thing. It was quite a surprise. So the process began. After all the testing was completed the information went out to all the Centers for Transplants or Hospitals everywhere across the Mid-West. Everything tested excellent and very quickly like with minutes someone claimed his lungs. Later that evening all other organs were claimed. Then just waiting to get all the surgeons on site.
Then GOD thru us the biggest curve ball of all. Cody physically left this world 2:03 am Thursday 20, 2018.
Gift of Hope honored Cody a ceremony on the front lawn on the Memorial Center, Springfield, IL at the flag pole. A purple flag was hoisted up by his children Cody and Chloe as the representative read some of our messages about Cody. Several loved ones and friends attended. Then briefly God let a few tears- rain drops – fall. So the flag flew for 3 days to honor Cody and let visitors to the hospital know there was an organ donation at the hospital.
He is living on thru this selfless act of love for strangers. A TRUE GIFT OF LIFE. HE IS A TRUE HERO. The results: a female age 30 received the right kidney. A male age 60s received his liver. A male 60s received both lungs. The transplants so far have been successful.
Cody was true to himself, his beliefs, and principals and to the ones he loved the most. He had an enormously big heart and a generous soul. He would do anything for you. He was a strong silent type. Mostly on the quite side unless you knew him well. Once his friend always his friend.
99% sure Cody is with JESUS and his loved ones that have gone before in HEAVEN. No doubt he is with his dad again. He missed him tremendously the last 5 years.
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN. WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH. WE WILL MISS YOU FOREVER. OUR HEARTS ARE BROKEN!!
HOW DO WE LIVE WITHOUT YOU!! ♥♥
Just pray for our comfort and strength and please never forget CODY AKA: Honey, Little Bird, Babe, Codeman, Kurt, and GCODE as he was known to by his mother, loved ones and friends.
A special thank you to all the doctors, nurses and staff at Memorial Center, Springfield, IL. A special thank you to Pastor Brian Canaday, his mother Sharon and all Cody’s mother’s church family for all their support. A special thank you to all our loved ones for being there to help us thru. A special thank you to Neil – his compassion, friendliness and professionalism was beyond measure. Special thank you to Graceland/Fairlawn staff for all you’ve done to make this as pleasant and comfortable as possible.
The family of Cody Bunning, Sr. is being served by Graceland/Fairlawn Funeral Home, 2091 N. Oakland Ave. Decatur, IL. Please view the online obituary, send condolences, and share memories at www.gracelandfairlawn.com.
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