Catherine June Dunk

Catherine June Dunk, of Savanna, Illinois, passed away December 12, 2019, at JourneyCare in Barrington, Illinois.

She was born August 10, 1925 in Hopedale, Illinois to William B. Haas and Henrietta Schmitt. Her mother, grandmother, and two sisters died in a tragic auto accident when she was four. She spent many happy summers with her aunts and uncles in Henry, Illinois.

Her father remarried and she has five siblings: Margaret (Peggy) Kuntzleman of Sun City West, AZ; Mary Schneider, of Fort Myers Beach, FL; Helen Adams, of Sun City West, AZ; Kaye (Jim) Norris, of Thompson, IL; and William Haas, of Mt. Carroll, IL. She graduated from Mt. St. Clare Academy and further attended Mt. St. Clare College for a year of business school through 1944. She received additional training as a medical stenographer at Camp Crowder, Missouri, and subsequently trained other medical stenographers at Schick Hospital in Clinton, Iowa, in using shorthand to record doctors’ notes during surgery. With World War II raging on, she answered the national call and left Clinton to work in the Pentagon in Washington, DC.

In Washington she met her future husband, Richard (Dick) J. Dunk, and moved to Clinton, Iowa. On January 31, 1948, they were married in St. John’s Catholic Church in Savanna. While working as a stenographer and secretary for the Milwaukee Road, June (and Dick) had four sons, Robert (Cathy), Terrence (Jennifer), Stephen (Donna), and Randall (Tamara). As the railroad wound down in Savanna, she left the railroad and worked as a secretary at the Ammunition School of the Savanna Army Depot, finally retiring in 1988.

In retirement she worked at the Great River Garden Center in Savanna for another sixteen or seventeen years, doing everything from creating flower arrangements to retail sales for son Terry.

For many years she was the organist and director of the Resurrection Choir for her beloved church. Some of the many other hats she wore include cribbage and card partner, golfer, knit-wit and shawl ministry member of St. John’s Catholic Women. Several times a week she and her card-playing buddies could be found at Shivers, Manny’s, or one another’s house. She also kept the librarians at the Savanna Library busy helping her select her next novel, as she was a voracious reader. She and her self-described fellow knit-wits knitted and donated an untold number of tiny caps for premature infants.

She loved her grandkids, including annual summer visits, having them walk across the field and through the neighborhood for a visit, or having them stop by on a bike ride with their mom. She has ten grandchildren: David (Tara) Greenmeyer, Kristin (Brian) Quisenberry, Katy (Keith) Edmonds, Nicholas Dunk, Ryan Dunk, Hannah Dunk, Bryan (Amber) Dunk, Melissa (Thomas) Foster, Nathan Dunk, and Jacob Dunk. And she has five great-grandchildren: Rachel Greenmeyer, David Quisenberry, Kensington & Kollin Edmonds, and Ethan Russo.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Henrietta Haas; father, William Haas; two sisters, Marjorie and Rosemary; two brothers; her Step-Mother Margaret Haas; and her husband, Richard.

She is survived by her sisters Margaret (Peggy) Kuntzleman, Mary Schneider, Helen Adams, Kaye (Jim) Norris, and brother William Haas; and her children.

Visitation will be held Friday, December 20, 2019, at Law-Jones Funeral Home in Savanna, IL, from 4:00 – 7:00 pm and Saturday, December 21st from 9:30 -10:00 am.
A funeral mass will be held at St. John’s Catholic Church in Savanna, IL, on Saturday, December 21, 2019, at 10:30 am.
Burial in St. John’s Catholic Cemetery in Savanna will follow the funeral.

Memorial contributions will be made in June’s memory to the Savanna Christmas Food Basket Fund, the Savanna Children's Fund, or the Thrift Store Savanna. Contributions can be sent to Terry Dunk, c/o Law-Jones Funeral Home, 309 Chicago Ave., Savanna, IL 61074.