Harvey D. Funk

Harvey D. Funk

August 20, 1936 – May 13, 2022

Omaha, NE- A Celebration of Life will be held in the family backyard on Saturday, May 28th beginning with a short service with Military Honors at 2pm, followed by visitation with family and friends. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Yellowstone Boys & Girls Ranch (https://www.ybgr.org/donate/).

Harvey passed away peacefully on May 13, 2022, from a 15-month battle with cancer. He was born in Chinook, MT on August 20, 1936, the fifth child of David and Elizabeth Funk. A short time later, his little brother was born making the family 3 girls and 3 boys. Life was different on the farm in 1936 than it is today. Harvey and his 5 siblings worked hard to keep the farm going. When his father died in 1946, the family moved to the small town of Chinook, MT and his mother went to work for JC Penny.

Harvey enlisted in the Army in 1955, serving as a Medical Corpsman in Germany. He continued in the Army Reserves until 1963. He had many stories of his time in the Army and came to love the taste of German beer. He was also a big fan of war movies and wartime airplanes. In the last few years, he took 2 rides as a passenger in the B52 Stratofortress airplane.

One of his jobs during his summers was working for the Bauman's Bee Farm. He talked a lot about the bee and honey process and frequently gave tubs of honey or honey bears to his friends and family.

Harvey married Marla in 1962. He was in college working on his master's degree in Engineering at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT, home of the Bobcats. As a young family with 3 girls, they lived in college housing and worked hard to make ends meet. A story was recounted recently that the family annual salary at that time was $6000...and it was enough for this family of 5.

In 1965 the family moved to Glendive, Montana where Harvey was the City Engineer. He developed and managed many expansion projects for this small town. In 1971, Harvey took a job in Omaha, Nebraska with the HDR Engineering firm. His first nationally known project was in Ames, Iowa where the city garbage was burned to produce electricity. Harvey continued to work on many projects expanding internationally. His specialty became recycling and composting. In 1993, he purchased a patent for composting and started CTI Systems. He was the primary principal and face of this company until 2022 when he retired at 85 years old.

Harvey loved hunting. In Montana, he hunted deer and elk. In Nebraska, he loved to hunt waterfowl, especially duck hunting. He, his friends, sons-in-law, and grandchildren spent many fall mornings in the duck blind on his farm in Iowa along the Nishnabotna River. Many weekends were spent on the farm creating a habitat for ducks and waterfowl. When they weren't hunting, they were talking about hunting or looking at his gun and knife collections. It was easy for the boys to be caught-up in the gun room for hours.

Often, Harvey could be found in his wood shop making or fixing things. Marla could talk him into fixing just about anything. Over the years he made and repaired furniture. When the girls were teenagers, he made a desk and dresser set for each one of them.

He was an avid football, basketball, and college sports fan. Later in life he became a fan of college volleyball and learned more about the game from his granddaughter-in-law.

Harvey and Marla traveled extensively. They went to Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Hawaii, New York City, California, Texas, and back to beloved Montana.

Harvey and Marla loved their back yard, the flowers, and the birds. They spent many mornings and evenings there watching birds and listening to the many sounds of nature.

Harvey was a Christian with a strong faith and attended Christ Community Church. He loved the Lord and knew He is his savior. For over 50 years, he and Marla have supported the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch in Billings, Montana to help troubled youth.

Harvey is preceded in death by his parents, five siblings, and wife, Marla. He is survived by his three daughters: Brenda Larson, Rhonda Davis (Joe), and Ginger Nelson (Ken); four grandchildren: Bryan Planck (Erika), Chris Nelson (Stephanie), Dylan Davis (Stephanie), and Kailey Davis (fiancé Josh); four great-grandchildren: Amy, Emma, Ainsley, and Brody; many nieces and nephews. We love and will miss this wonderful father, grandfather, great-grandfather, husband, brother, uncle, and neighbor.