Sally Funk (nee Dueck)

Funk, Sally AKA Precious

March 1, 1930 - July 29, 2026

Sally Funk, long time resident of Altona, Manitoba, passed away peacefully in her sleep and moved on to her eternal home in the early hours of the morning of July 29th.

Sally was predeceased by her husband of 73 years and 8 months, Jerry Wilbert Funk in 2022, father, Peter H. Dueck in 1979, and mother Sarah, in 1984; brothers: Thomas, John, Peter, and Henry, and sisters Helen, Maria, Elizabeth and Anne as well as grandson Robert Styan in 2020,

Sally is survived by children Richard (Sharon) Funk, Jean Ritter, Ron (Bev) Funk, Laurel (John) Rudolph, Murray (Robyn) Funk, and Myra Funk. Her 22 grandchildren remember her fondly as the grandma that always had wonderful homemade baking and made quilts for each one of them. Her love for her 43 great grandchildren was always apparent by her interest in each one specifically. She also leaves behind 3 great great grandchildren and her sister, Kay. Step-brothers Dave and Art (Betty) Stoesz and stepsisters Kathy Dyck and Helen Dueck will miss her, too, along with many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews.

Sally was born in Altbergthal, Manitoba to Peter and Sarah Dueck, March 1, 1930. Her given name was Sarah. She had 12 siblings, 3 of which died in infancy. They lived on a farm and were largely self-sufficient. Sally learned many valuable lessons during these days….if you want to eat you have to work!

Sally went to the Altbergthal School until the end of grade 7. This is where she met Jerry because they started school at the same time where they had the common love/hate relationship: Sally calling Jerry names and Jerry chasing her, throwing clumps of dirt, and also dipping braids into the ink. Sally called Jerry a “red headed flicka” and that wasn’t received too well!

In school, Sally loved penmanship. A highlight of their school years was Friday afternoons when the girls had embroidery class while the boys did woodworking. Her classes definitely played a large role in her creativeness throughout her life! Thinking about her carpentry, I’m just wondering if she sometimes did that as well!

Jerry and Sally began dating at the age of 16. They would often gather in the village and hang out in groups. In 1948 Sally's parents were moving to South America. In order to avoid having to leave Manitoba, she asked Jerry if he'd marry her.......didn't check if this was a leap year! If you've seen pictures of our beautiful Sally, you can see why Jerry said yes! They married May 26, 1948 and lived on the farm at Jerry’s parents where he worked for 5 years.

Sally was baptized in the Sommerfelder church before their marriage. They joined the Sommerfelder church, but didn’t attend often due to divisions in the church. They attended the United Church at the corner when Jerry was on shift work and later joined the Bergthaler Church in Altona.

In August of 1953, they moved to Altona where Jerry began to work at the Coop Vegetable Oils: CVO. Sally was a doer! She was creative and very talented in everything she touched! To help make ends meet she sold various products. Never with idle hands, she taught 4-H and passed on her knowledge of sewing to those girls. Her skill in knitting and crocheting were well known so she taught those at home and later moved on to teach evening classes at W. C. Miller Collegiate. Although Sally was an excellent seamstress, she continued her education by completing tailoring courses and made patterns and exquisite garments.

With a family of six children, came the need for extras and so Sally worked outside of the home. She worked at CVO canning oil. From there she moved on to the Coop Store where she was a cashier in the grocery department. She did a stint at the Eaton’s’ Order Office and followed that with many years at DW Friesen working in the binding department. For a period of time Sally did numerating for elections and even worked at elections.

Our Sally had a huge heart and canvassed for the March of Dimes and for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. She also volunteered at blood donor clinics. She baked for others and was always willing to help out wherever help was needed. Her house was always open to others and there was food for every friend any of us thought necessary to stay for dinner.

Sally was a member of Homemaker’s Fellowship, a ladies group at church that organized events to raise money for Missions.

Taking holidays as a family of 8 wasn’t easy so Sally would hoe beets to earn extra holiday money.

To keep their family fed, they always had a gigantic garden at grandpa’s farm. Summer chores were many and saying we were bored was a very foolish statement indeed! We learned quickly that the endless list of shelling peas, ending beans, stirring jams, husking corn was always a remedy for boredom! Our home rivaled the Campbells cannery I’d think! Everything available was canned and prepared for the winter ahead. If we did our jobs thoroughly and with minimal complaining we could end our days playing outside with our friends but only after everything was done and cleaned up. We have always joked that our Sally would have made an amazing sergeant in the army! She could also have run the country with her eyes closed and the books would have balanced. There would have been no whining tolerated and justice would have been served. Recycling and reusing would have kept the landfills small the entire time. Go figure, she was just born at the wrong time! Poor Canada!!

Sally was creative and capable of many things! At a time when roles were quite specific, she still managed to work on building things because she was friends with the saw and hammer and nails. She painted the kitchen cabinets red making quite a statement for its time! Armed with ideas she built Barbie furniture for the Barbies that needed places to put all those clothes she made.

As the Precious part of Red and Precious, Sally washed hockey uniforms and every spring prepared a team supper for all the players. No wonder they have been loved by so many!!

Sally took up quilting and made many masterpieces that we all use proudly in our homes. Children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren all lucky recipients! She made blankets that shared our picnics and wrapped up precious new babies as they appeared.

Sally’s beautiful cross stitch is hanging in a number of our homes. Everything she touched was done with precision and excellence. Nothing was ever just “good enough”.

I remember her talking about golfing and the reason she began. She said she had decided early as a wife that she did not want to be a ‘widow’ while being married so she developed an interest in the things Jerry was interested in……went to the hockey and ball games and learned how to golf! She certainly got it right…..probably one of the reasons their marriage lasted for their lifetimes!

As their children became adults and moved to other places, Jerry and Sally decided it was more important to visit them and their grandchildren than to holiday in other countries. Many trips were made out west as well as 2 trips to Australia.

Sally lived a full life alongside Jerry until his passing over 4 years ago. She had to reinvent herself because she had never lived alone before that. Sally moved to the Gardens on Tenth in December 2024. This time was short because in May 2025 she required hospitalization and with the Altona Hospital unavailable she was sent to a beautiful new hospital in Notre Dame des Lourdes. Once she recovered, it was determined that she needed to be in a care home so because this hospital is connected to The Foyer she was transferred to a fairly independent wing there. She loved her new home and the people she was with. Sally’s health began deteriorating at the turn of the year and she was moved to a wing that offered more care where she spent the remainder of her days. The staff and care was phenomenal and the family is grateful for the love and dignity shown throughout her stay there. Sally told me one day that she was sure I would like to live there too!

Sally’s passing leaves a gigantic hole in our hearts; but we rejoice for her! Reaching the age of 96+ is no small feat! She witnessed many world changes and met all her challenges head on: the Lord is my Shepherd! Sally had a very ready laugh and a great wit about her until the end! She could be a spitfire at times! She so longed to reach the finish line.....she said dad had waited a long time for her join him. She got her wish!! Sally will be missed dearly by all her family and friends but we celebrate her well lived life!

We, the family, want to say a huge thank you to the staff at the Foyer and the hospital for their loving care and exceptional kindness to Sally as well as all of us when we visited!

There will be a viewing August 5th at Wiebe Funeral Home, Altona, from 1:00 - 6:00 p.m. with cremation to follow.

We invite everyone to a come and go Celebration of Life for both Sally and Jerry Wilbert Funk on August 15th from 2:00 - 4:00 pm. at the Altona Seniors Centre.

The urns for both Sally and Jerry will be placed in a Columbarium at 5:00 p.m. where there will be a brief service for immediate and extended family only.