Raised in Tribute:
$30.00Dad tried and tried to get stronger, and his rock steady boxing class helped a lot until his brain told his legs to stop working correctly. The last few months he had 6 hospital stays, all for different things. In the end the Parkinsons accelerated, it seemed, daily. Pneumonia was the last fight he could not win.
It is with sad hearts but happy memories that his family says goodbye to Robert Louis Funk who passed away from natural causes on Monday, July 16, 2018.
During his 81 years on earth, Bob has, as the saying goes, "been there, done that". A native Angeleno, Bob grew up in South While attending George Washington High School in Los Angeles, Bob met the love of his life, Mary Vega, with whom he would be happily married for 61 years.
After high school and a brief stint with Pac Bell, Bob entered the Police Academy where he graduated in 1959. Bob would spend the next 20 years of his life serving and protecting the people of Los Angeles as a proud member of the LAPD. His brother Gary would soon follow in his footsteps and the brothers served long and distinguished careers with the force.
Robert and Mary were married in March of 1957 and lived in Torrance until 1965, moving to what was then Saugus with daughters Tamara and Andrea in tow. Stephanie would arrive a few years later and Kym joined the family several years after that.
After retiring from the force, Bob became a real estate broker and convinced Mary to join him. With her at his side, he served clients in the Santa Clarita Valley for over three decades.
Bob and Mary loved to travel and travel they did. He was happiest on a cruise on the open ocean, whether it was to Tahiti or Hawaii or Alaska or the Mediterranean.
Tired of the city life, Bob and Mary moved to Palm Desert in 2011 where they continued working in real estate and enjoyed their winter-free existence.
Bob's last few years involved some medical challenges, but he remained enthused about life and enjoyed the adventures of his grandchildren as they made their way into the world. The Holiday Season was always a time for family . no holiday dinner was complete without everyone seated together, laughing and crying and having fun together. As the patriarch, he loved holding court with stories, jokes, and advice. But you could also catch him sitting quietly, watching everyone around him and drinking in the moments that would become memories.
Before the end came, Bob was able to say goodbye to his family.
Bob is survived by his wife Mary, his brother Gary, Gary's wife Rose Marie, his children Tamara (Ronald Neef), Andrea (William Forshee), Stephanie, and Kym (Kevin Duxbury) and his grandchildren, Brianna Forshee, Hannah Blatt, Joshua Blatt, and Madison Lyznick who were always his pride and joy. And Lambo, his dog, who is lost without him.
Per Bob's wishes, there will be no service and his ashes will be scattered at sea.
The family request that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Bob's memory to the Michael J. Fox Parkinson Foundation.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson's today. The Foundation is the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research, with more than $800 million in high-impact research funded to date.
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