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SENATE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, Herbert Emerson Funk, a longtime Aurora 
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pharmacist and civic leader, passed away March 2, 2005; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Mr. Funk was born in Aurora on October 22, 1917; 
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he was the eldest child of Margaret Grimm Funk and Herbert 
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Emerson Funk, Sr.; the family's summers were spent at their 
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summer home at Kelly Lake, Wisconsin, the site of many special 
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memories; and

 
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    WHEREAS, After graduating from West Aurora High School in 
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1935, he and several Aurora friends went to Beloit College in 
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Wisconsin, from which he graduated in 1939; he was a member of 
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Sigma Chi fraternity and was a fraternity soloist at various 
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college functions; while attending Beloit, he met classmate 
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Elizabeth Standfuss and they were married in June 1942; he 
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completed his second degree in Pharmacy at the University of 
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Illinois in 1943, and was inducted with his entire class into 
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the Army Medical Corps; he served in the States and then the 
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European Theater until the end of World War II; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Following his discharge in 1944, he returned to 
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Aurora and joined the family business, Grimm's Drug Store, 
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which had been founded by his grandfather in 1899; he was 
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joined at Grimm's by his brother Henry, and together they 
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expanded the business to include several more drug stores in 
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Aurora and one of the first Hallmark stores, called Crown 'n' 
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Quill, in the Midwest; Grimm's celebrated its 100th anniversary 
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before it closed in 1999; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Throughout his career, Mr. Funk was active in the 
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community; he was a member of Kiwanis and the Union League and 
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served as President of the Board of New England Congregational 
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Church, where his grandparents were among the original 
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founders; he also served on the Boards of Merchants Bank and 
 


 






SR0128
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LRB094 11731 CSA 43679 r




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Plum Landing Retirement Community; during the 1960s, he was 
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actively involved as a member and later president of Project 
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330, a civic group dedicated to the economic revitalization of 
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the Aurora area; the group's efforts were instrumental in the 
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development of Fox Valley Shopping Center; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Mr. Funk retired from Grimm's in 1979, and he and 
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his wife spent the next ten years traveling throughout the 
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world; they both were certified scuba divers and took several 
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trips to the Caribbean to pursue their favorite sport; he was 
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also a skilled craftsman who particularly enjoyed woodworking 
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and jewelry design; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Elizabeth Funk died in 1991; in 1998, he married 
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Sally Clay, whose enduring love was a source of strength and 
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support; Eugenia Kwiecinska, his devoted nurse, provided the 
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special care that made it possible for him to live his final 
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years at home; and

 
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    WHEREAS, The passing of Herbert Emerson Funk is felt by all 
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who knew and loved him, especially his wife, Sally; his 
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children, Linna Place (Craig) and Dr. James Funk (Diane); his 
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stepdaughters, Stephanie Clay-Jones (Robert), Jennifer 
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Clay-Benson (Adam), and Janice Swick; his ten grandchildren; 
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his brother, Henry; his sister, Dorothy White (Robert); and his 
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sister-in-law, Barbara Hester (Robert); therefore, be it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE  SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL 
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ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of 
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Herbert Emerson Funk and extend our sincerest condolences to 
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his family, friends, and community; and be it further

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to his family as an expression of our deepest 
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sympathy.