Murrysville woman led by example, volunteered at charities

Mary Funk grew up on the Murrysville Golf Course.

Living in the stone house on the property, her parents owned and ran the golf course since it was built in 1928 — the year they immigrated from Glasgow, Scotland.

Mrs. Funk cut the greens and tended the course. It also became the place where she met her future husband, Raymond.

“She would say their first date was a Steelers game and they were playing the Green Bay Packers,” said daughter Nancy Lombaer, of Chicago. “So she has a soft spot for the Green Bay Packers, unless they’re playing the Steelers.”

Mrs. Mary N. Funk died Monday, April 1, 2019, at her Murrysville home. She was 97.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, she was the daughter of the late James and Georgina Stewart Noble.

She graduated from Franklin Regional High School and was involved in the First Presbyterian Church of Murrysville, where she sang in the choir for 87 years.

“She was very proud of that and very involved in the life of the church,” Lombaer said.

After marrying and having a family of her own, Funk eventually moved back into the stone house with her husband, who became general manager and president of the course.

In her free time, Mrs. Funk volunteered with Meals on Wheels and was involved with the Murrysville chapter since it was founded in 1972. She often spent Saturday nights bowling with her husband and took time to paint in watercolors and oils.

Recreating a photo from a place she had visited on vacation or nature scenes, paintings were displayed throughout her home. One painting depicts the creek running through the golf course with snow on the ground, while others show sunflowers and hummingbirds.

Raising two kids — Lombaer and her brother, David G. Funk, of Tallahassee, Fla. — Mrs. Funk always taught by example.

Growing up, Lombaer loved to spend time with her extended family, who would always come together for Sunday meals. The family would travel to Delaware together each summer and spend a couple weeks at the beach.

“It was fairly often we went on family vacations in the station wagon,” Lombaer said.

In addition to her parents and husband, Mrs. Funk was preceded in death by her brother, James A. Noble and her sister, Elizabeth “Betty” Geiger.

In addition to her daughter and son, Mrs. Funk is survived by two grandchildren.

Friends will be received 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Hart Funeral Home, 3103 Lillian Ave., Murrysville. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church of Murrysville. Interment will follow at Murrysville Cemetery.

Memorials can be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Murrysville or to Murrysville Meals on Wheels.