SR0128 LRB094 11731 CSA 43679 r

1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Herbert Emerson Funk, a longtime Aurora
3 pharmacist and civic leader, passed away March 2, 2005; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Mr. Funk was born in Aurora on October 22, 1917;
5 he was the eldest child of Margaret Grimm Funk and Herbert
6 Emerson Funk, Sr.; the family's summers were spent at their
7 summer home at Kelly Lake, Wisconsin, the site of many special
8 memories; and
 
9     WHEREAS, After graduating from West Aurora High School in
10 1935, he and several Aurora friends went to Beloit College in
11 Wisconsin, from which he graduated in 1939; he was a member of
12 Sigma Chi fraternity and was a fraternity soloist at various
13 college functions; while attending Beloit, he met classmate
14 Elizabeth Standfuss and they were married in June 1942; he
15 completed his second degree in Pharmacy at the University of
16 Illinois in 1943, and was inducted with his entire class into
17 the Army Medical Corps; he served in the States and then the
18 European Theater until the end of World War II; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Following his discharge in 1944, he returned to
20 Aurora and joined the family business, Grimm's Drug Store,
21 which had been founded by his grandfather in 1899; he was
22 joined at Grimm's by his brother Henry, and together they
23 expanded the business to include several more drug stores in
24 Aurora and one of the first Hallmark stores, called Crown 'n'
25 Quill, in the Midwest; Grimm's celebrated its 100th anniversary
26 before it closed in 1999; and
 
27     WHEREAS, Throughout his career, Mr. Funk was active in the
28 community; he was a member of Kiwanis and the Union League and
29 served as President of the Board of New England Congregational
30 Church, where his grandparents were among the original
31 founders; he also served on the Boards of Merchants Bank and

 

 

SR0128 - 2 - LRB094 11731 CSA 43679 r

1 Plum Landing Retirement Community; during the 1960s, he was
2 actively involved as a member and later president of Project
3 330, a civic group dedicated to the economic revitalization of
4 the Aurora area; the group's efforts were instrumental in the
5 development of Fox Valley Shopping Center; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Mr. Funk retired from Grimm's in 1979, and he and
7 his wife spent the next ten years traveling throughout the
8 world; they both were certified scuba divers and took several
9 trips to the Caribbean to pursue their favorite sport; he was
10 also a skilled craftsman who particularly enjoyed woodworking
11 and jewelry design; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Elizabeth Funk died in 1991; in 1998, he married
13 Sally Clay, whose enduring love was a source of strength and
14 support; Eugenia Kwiecinska, his devoted nurse, provided the
15 special care that made it possible for him to live his final
16 years at home; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The passing of Herbert Emerson Funk is felt by all
18 who knew and loved him, especially his wife, Sally; his
19 children, Linna Place (Craig) and Dr. James Funk (Diane); his
20 stepdaughters, Stephanie Clay-Jones (Robert), Jennifer
21 Clay-Benson (Adam), and Janice Swick; his ten grandchildren;
22 his brother, Henry; his sister, Dorothy White (Robert); and his
23 sister-in-law, Barbara Hester (Robert); therefore, be it
 
24     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL
25 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
26 Herbert Emerson Funk and extend our sincerest condolences to
27 his family, friends, and community; and be it further
 
28     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
29 presented to his family as an expression of our deepest
30 sympathy.