1941- 2018 Barbara (Geer) Funk 1941- 2018 Barbara (Geer) Funk died July 16, 2018. Her memorial will be held at Asbury United Methodist Church, 1090 Berntzen Rd. , in Eugene, OR on August 4.
2018 at 11:00 AM. Barbara Ellen Geer was born November 4, 1941 at McFarland Maternity Home in Cottage Grove, Oregon, to Roy A. and Marie (Gilham) Geer. Ten days later, they took her home to the new house they had cleared the land for and built themselves, moving in Oct.
4, one month before she arrived. Another month had barely passed when the country was drawn into WWII. Those years were hard on the grownups, but the little home on the hill overlooking Cottage Grove Lake was filled with much love and everything a little girl needed.
All winter the wood stove snored along cozily as she sat in her little rocking chair many an evening listening to her mom play the violin and Dad his guitar. When good weather came, she played with her dog & cat, followed old deer trails, picked wildflowers or played with the sandbox & swing her dad had made her. She loved learning, at home & then at Latham Grade School.
She almost always got to put on coat-hanger wings & a tinsel-wrapped halo to be an angel in the Christmas program at school or at Hebron Grange. Barbara was still at Latham when she and a girlfriend saw the “cute blonde boy from London,” though she didn’t see him again until Cottage Grove High School. They danced their way through contests and his Prom, and he asked her to marry him when he returned from Nat.
Guard training. She kept busy with school work, the Sr. Class Play, and as “Lion Tracks” annual editor until he came home from CA. They were married May 2, 1959 at the Methodist Church in Cottage Grove, OR with her mom on her violin and his Grandma Blackmore at the organ, playing “With This Ring I Thee Wed”.
They moved to Eugene after Paul got a job as a roofer for his friend’s dad. By the time their third daughter was born, they moved from a duplex they were buying into a corner house on Chase Street where they were to live 55 years. A son joined the family there.
They started a roofing/construction business, kept up with everything the children did, went camping, fishing & hunting, followed the Oregon Trail, traced family history and took photos of it all. Barbara went to work for Bethel School District, first as a cook, then in the Rerdzt/ Room for 23 years before retiring. They joined Asbury Methodist Church.
Her “To-Do” lists seemed to get even longer as they planned vacations, family events with the grandkids & wrote the family newsletter every month. As her folks aged, she & Paul spent more & more time with them. A loss of energy sent her to the Dr. and the discovery of cancer.
She fought it as her Dad passed away and continued treatment as they moved her mom into assisted living. “Faith, Family & Friends” kept them going, along with Paul’s help. Just after the death of her mom, Barbara passed the mark as a 5-year cancer survivor.
The whole family celebrated. They celebrated again in 2016 for the 75th anniversaries of the day her folks moved into the Home Place, & Barbara’s 75th birthday. Family photos & memories of all the happy times were shared again.
After years of keeping her diabetes under tight control with diet, her blood sugar was suddenly too high. Doctors found she had spots of cancer in her pancreas and liver. She started chemo again in May 2017.
Her Faith, Family and Friends were so important to Barbara. Each generation was welcomed and precious to her and to Paul. She was an only child, but she and Paul made a family circle.
It encompassed: Vickie (Earl) Long; Bonnie (Mike) Allen; Sandra Funk; & Greg (Carrie) Funk. Grandchildren included: Joe (Tiffany) Padilla; Linda Charette; Sarah (Chris) Carpenter; Jennie (James) Gardner; Steve Allen; Josh (Emily) Funk; Robert Funk; Sam Funk & Calvin Funk. Great grandchildren: Rio Cournoyer, Xander Charette, Ava & Lillie Gardner.
Dear friends included Ken & Doris Adair, many from Asbury, and in-laws: Gary & Alice Funk and Helen & David Cooper. Smith-Lund-Mills Funeral Chapel in Cottage Grove is in charge of arrangements. Burial will be at Taylor-Lane Cemetery south of Cottage Grove off London Rd.
Donations in her memory would be welcomed at Asbury UMC or the Oregon Cancer Foundation.
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