Obituary of Shirlee A Funk

Shirlee Anne (DeVore) Funk, 60, of Iowa City, died Thursday, February 13, 2014, at home after a four year long battle with cancer. Shirlee was born December 26, 1953, in their home near Morning Sun, IA, the daughter of Vernon L. Devore and Irene M. (Huff) Devore. She grew up in Wapello, IA, graduated from the Wapello high school in 1972 and from Wheaton College IL in 1976. She made her home in Iowa City in 1977, married David Bruce Funk August 14, 1982. She has two daughters, Lydia M. Funk and Deidre H. Funk. A skillful wordsmith with a deep appreciation of nature and beauty, Shirlee had a flair for editing and artistic design, and was an active and well-liked participant in local, national, and international doll collector organizations. She described herself as "a contemporary student of traditional Japanese culture" and wrote haiku poetry, collected Japanese dolls and woodblock prints, and became a recognized English-language expert on ningyō, traditional Japanese dolls, with multiple publications to her credit. Her book "Nature & Culture" illustrates her fine sense of visual design, combining her haiku with Shin Hanga woodblock prints from her private collection. Shirlee's other talents included international cuisine and sewing; she organized vintage fashion shows to help raise funds for local charities, and self-published beautiful and useful calendars and cookbooks. She loved flowers and gardening, and along with her daughters, rescued and fostered many monarch caterpillars from chrysalis to butterfly. She was preceded in death by her father; is survived by her mother; two brothers, David R. Devore and Harlan V. Devore; two sisters, Muriel K. Henning and Corrinne Tryon; her husband and daughters. As she deeded her body to the University of Iowa College of Medicine there is no funeral; a memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, April 12, 2014, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City. A reception will be held at the church following the service. Online condolences may be sent for Shirlee's family through the web @ www.gayandciha.com. Gifts and remembrances can be made to the American Cancer Society or the American Diabetes Association.