Marion Sue Kunkel, 74, Olathe, formerly of Moran and Chanute, passed away Monday, May 23, 2016, at Good Samaritan Center of Olathe. Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Bruce Funeral Home, Gardner. Visitation will follow the service. Cremation will follow with internment at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to Good Samaritan Center of Olathe. Condolences may be left at www.brucefuneralhome.com
Marion was born Dec. 11, 1941, in rural Sugar Creek Township in Miami County, to Herman Levi and Marjorie Faye (Bartles) Hewitt. She graduated from Butler, Mo., High School in 1959. After graduation she went to Kansas City, Mo. While working as a secretary for Mutual of Omaha in Kansas City she met Glenn Kunkel. They married on June 25, 1967, in Independence, Mo.
In 1970 they moved to Waterville, where Glenn worked for the funeral home. In 1974 they bought the Kunkel Funeral Chapel in Moran, where Marion was a licensed funeral director/co-owner. She was instrumental in the smooth running and organization of the funeral home. Marion was a wiz at accounting, organizing and all administrative details. Glenn always credited the success of their business to her. In 1984 they expanded their business to the Humboldt Funeral Chapel. She was a member of Lenexa United Methodist church, Eastern Star and UMW in Moran, and KFDA and NFDA. She was a very talented seamstress and enjoyed painting, drawing, embroidery and other crafts. Upon retirement in 2005, they moved to Olathe to be near family. She will be dearly missed by family and friends.
Marion was preceded in death by her parents and husband, Glenn, in February 2016. She is survived by her son, Mike Kunkel, and daughter, Susan Dunaway and husband John, all of Overland Park; and five grandchildren, Tyler, Kayt, Foster, Eli and Liam; brothers, Willie Hewitt, Burleson, Texas, and John Hewitt, Kansas City, Mo., and sister, Charlotte and husband Charlie Gutshall, Liberty, Mo.; and many nieces and nephews.
