Three very special people spoke at Mom's service: Tom Whitaker, Beverly Nelson, and John Rowe. Their tributes are below.

Tom Whitaker, Nephew

Eva Funk Moeller – A Life Well Lived

May 10, 1926, a girl was born in Davenport Iowa. The last of 9 children. Eva Esther Funk was her ‘given’ name. A few of you may have known her by that name, but many more would have known her by another; Eva, Mrs. Moeller, Aunt Eva, Eve, the General, MoeBaby, Mom.

On that day in 1926, Calvin Coolidge was the President; number 20 and she lived through 16 more. That’s the year that Henry Ford announced that his employees would only work 40 hours a week. One year later, Lindbergh flew the Atlantic

In 1930 when Eva was 4 years old, the Great Depression started and at age 6 (1932)Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the presidency.

In 1933, Prohibition was repealed, and that act contributed mightily to her world class ability to entertain.

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, Aunt Eva was a freshman at Central High School in Davenport Iowa. Two years ago, I toured that school with her and listened as she reminisced. A cherished memory for me

The war years in Iowa featured rationing, war bond sales, four of her brothers leaving to serve in the military and the emergence of “Bobby Soxers” as the fans of a young singer, Frank Sinatra were known. Eve was a huge, lifelong fan.

She graduated from Central in 1944, just before the D-Day Normandy invasion. She was already corresponding with former Central High track star Don Moeller, who had joined the United States Marines Corp and in 1945 she traveled to Santa Barbara, by train to visit him as he was stationed there. On the steps of the Santa Barbara courthouse, Don proposed, she accepted. Eva Funk was 19.

In 1947 Don and Eva married on July 19th and the same month a UFO crashes near Roswell, it has not been proven that the wedding caused this occurrence.

In 1948 the newlyweds moved to Peoria, Illinois so Don could attend Bradley University on the G.I. Bill where he received his bachelor’s degree in fine arts. Don was a gifted artist as many of you already know. His degree was in Oil painting, but he was best known as a potter.

After graduation from Bradley in 1952, they returned to Davenport Iowa where Mrs Moeller joined the local schools district and took a position back at Central High School while Don began his career teaching art at Moline High School. The Korean war ended the next year.

When 1964 rolled around Aunt Eva and Uncle Don welcomed their daughter, my favorite cousin, Jann Denise. That same year The Beatles/ the Fab 4 arrived in New York to celebrate her birth.

In 1965 Don received an offer to teach Ceramics at Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach California (where Eve’s Niece, Winn and her husband, Chuck lived) So, another Fab 4, Eva, Don, Jann and Grandma Funk loaded into their Red Volkswagen Beetle and moved to California. Yes, a moving van moved the household goods, just in case you were wondering. It was not an Iowa version of the Beverly Hillbillies?

In 1966, as the Vietnam war was escalating, Eva worked as an executive administrator for Santa Anita Development Corporation, sharing the position with another executive assistant. Eva invented job sharing with her dear friend Lillian. Eva had the afternoon shift. It was there that she got the nickname, “MoeBaby”. Experience with the Royal, Hermes, Olympia, and IBM Selectric typewriters striving to achieve Lillians 90 words per minute.

In 1969, a human walks on the moon.

In 1978 she landed a position with Coastline Community College district and within a few short years she transitioned to Orange Coast College where she worked for over 30 years as executive assistant to the Dean of Instruction. Many people believe that Mrs Moeller actually ran the college.

Throughout the years my Mom, Dad and I traveled to California for Christmas visits with Aunt Eva, Uncle Don, and Jann. Including a Christmas in Hawaii.

In 1994 Aunt Eva gained a son-in-law when Jann marries John Rowe. She claimed he was her favorite son-in law…which would normally be a huge complement if it weren’t for the fact that he was her only son in law. With this new son-in-law friendship the moniker “The General” was born. The General and Uncle Don took a lot of road trips with Jann and John. Las Vegas at least twice a year.

Sadly in 2006, the love of her life Don passed away from Alzheimer’s. It was a long goodbye

In 2007 the Apple iPhone debuted, and Eva later got one. She became one on the world's greatest senders of text messages. She was always on the cutting edge, even had her own Facebook account. However, you could always count on getting a letter in the mail from her.

Then in 2010 Harlan Moore joined Eva’s world as a life companion. Harlan was also a widower and had known Don and Eva since High School in Iowa. They enjoyed gardening, reminiscing about their lives and entertaining friends and family.

On her 90th birthday (2016) a party was held in Las Vegas with dinner at Sinatra’s restaurant at the Encore hotel. No surprise, she picked the restaurant.

In 2017, her dear friend Harlan passes away. MoeBaby stayed busy though, hosting friend and relatives at her home for dinners and holidays. Always active, she maintained a great rose garden…by herself.

In 2021 For her 95th birthday, Eva went with Jann and John on the “Great America Road Trip” to Iowa, somewhat retracing their route to California in ’65, following route 66 to St. Louis. I met up with them in St Louis, surprising my aunt in the hotel asking her if I could help her with her luggage. We went to a Cardinals game on Cinco De Mayo where she had a margarita (of course) while the rest of us drank Budweiser. We took Highway 61 to the Quad Cities and for the next 4 days she toured us to all her old stomping grounds, sharing memories that will last a lifetime. We even drove to Dixon Iowa where Aunt Eva reconnected with Twila the flower girl from her wedding, 74 years earlier.

Aunt Eva lived through the Great Depression, Recessions, Wars, small and large, a Presidential assassination, terrorist threats to the nation and a pandemic. Throughout all these events she was eternally optimistic; her cup was always more than half full.

I always loved that she called me her “favorite nephew” because she was and will always be my favorite Aunt. She did indeed have a life well lived empowered by her great Christian faith, that , along with her ‘medicinal’ after dinner drink!

Many of us here are known by a connected, ‘hyphenated’ name, Winn & Chuck, Zach & Marian, Jann & John, connected to our partner in life, now Eva & Don are together again.
She visited her ‘fella’ in California in ’45, left the Midwest home she had known w/ him to bring their presence to SoCal in ’65 and is now back with him after their brief separation.

I would close with a few of the phrases that Aunt Eva and I traded with each other, some of you will know these
- When given a monetary gift for a bday of Christmas – “Spend it foolishly"
- When making a decision about ANY action – “If not now, When?”
- And the we all should know, Join with me “May the hinges of friendship never rust and may the wings of Love never lose a feather”

I love you Aunt Eva and I miss you.

//

Beverly Sham Nelson, Friend

I’m Bev Nelson. I’ve been blessed to know Eva and Don Moeller since they first came to California from Iowa and started at Newport Harbor Lutheran Church. Eva had told us that her and don left a group of wonderful friends in Iowa and found their counterparts here at their new church. My parents, Marian and Zach Sham were part of this fun gang along with the Joyner’s & Klitzner’s. My mom went to be with the lord in 2018, but my dad and Eva were buddies over 55 years. Eva and two of the other ladies in the group (Imo Joyner & Ann Klitzner) even threw me a bridal shower 40 years ago.

One of the many things I will be forever grateful to Eva for is what we lovingly call “Tradition”. Every Friday night, Eva would have Jann, John, my dad, my husband Cliff, and me over for a wonderful evening of great food, lively conversation, and lots of laughter. Frank Sinatra or another cool cat from that wonderful era would be playing in the background adding to the ambience. We would start tradition at 5:30 p.m. and would end at 9:30 p.m. because that was Harlan’s Hour. Eva and Don’s dear friend Harlan Moore used to say that no one needed to stay at anyone’s house longer than 4 hours, so they called the 4-hour limit Harlan’s Hour.

Let me tell you a little about Tradition. Eva was always on top of everything, so John (being military) named her The General.

Well, the General, had a certain order to the evening; 1) we’d arrive and go to the patio (or the living room depending on weather) for wine and appetizers; 2) then we’d go to a beautifully set table in the dining room with candles, flowers, and decor to coincide with a nearby holiday or season. We’d join hands in prayer and then say a toast to dear friends and family. Oftentimes, in the middle of dinner, she’d say “put down your forks, don’t rush, just enjoy, that’s great advice for life; 3) dessert and coffee was often in the dining room; 4) then she’d say in these exact words, “Let’s retire to the living room for more conversation. Bring your drink with you.”
She was so generous. Anytime I mentioned how much I liked the biscuits she made, the poppy seed salad dressing, anything…she took note and the next week she would have it on the bed (next to where I would put my purse) for me to take home. She left magazines, recipes, towels, wine glasses, a collector’s plate from the year Cliff and I were married. She always gave us leftovers from the dinner too. I guess I should have mentioned how much I liked her car - but she would have had a hard time getting it into the bedroom.

We had a lot of fun with her allegiance (along with John and Jann) to UCLA, and dad, Cliff, and my allegiance to USC. One day, Cliff snuck a USC trojan gnome into her house inside his backpack. While she was in the kitchen, he hid it in Eva’s garden…way in the back. He thought she wouldn’t find it back there. Cliff must have forgotten he was dealing with The General! The next Friday we came, Eva had not only found it but had moved it front and center, next to her UCLA flag. A couple weeks later, a UCLA gnome showed up to add to the collegiate rivalry.

All of you who knew Eva would probably use the word “organized” to describe her. Her garage was so clean and organized you could eat off the floor. Her filing system was unmatched. I told her that my recipes were all in a drawer, and she brings out these two completely organized recipe biners and encouraged me to do the same…I did. She had a list that she had put together with every doctor, credit card company, bank, contractor, etc., with their name, phone number, and account number if applicable, and encouraged me to do the same…I did. if Eva was serving ice cream for dessert, she would already have it dished out in beautiful glass bowls in the freezer. If there was anything she could do ahead of time, you better believe that The General had done it!

Although Eva passed just 2 months shy of 97 years old, she said she was 39 and holding on tight, and she was! I’ve never seen anything like it. There was one point in time where she had to have physical therapy after a fall. She told the therapist, I want the goal to be to walk like a 39-year old, not a 96-year old. She would get up at 6:30 a.m. to get to Costco to buy gas for her convertible BMW before the crowds got there. If she wasn’t getting gas, she would be on her treadmill. Another of her early morning activities was to call in to her bank’s automated line and check her balance. She would deposit her check remotely over the internet just like a millennial. She’s way ahead of me!

Her hair and nails were always impeccable. She kept her house looking like a showplaceand cleaned it all herself. She always had a project going on at her home, whether it be interior, exterior, or patio. As a matter of fact, she often talked about her gardener and friend, Hippi. She would go outside and work with him when he came to do her yard.

Eva Moeller is a mentor of mine. I want to be like her when I grow up. What a smart, organized, kind, generous, beautiful, full of life woman who loved the lord. Something she always said was, “If not now, when?” great advice! as always, The General was right. I love you, Eva.

//

John Rowe, Son-In-Law

34 years ago today, June 9th, 1989, I met Jann. A couple of weeks later I met Eva.
A great friendship was born.

I learned a lot from my new friend and and that continued when she became my mother-in law.
Just a few sagacious gems that she passed along. She always loved when I used a word that would send her to Webster’s Dictionary…particularly when I became a blogger…more on that later.

In no particular order I learned the following –
When she broke her wrist and couldn’t drive, I learned the mystery of shopping with coupons in three grocery stores in what was considered one trip to the market. Why three? Here’s why – Staples and canned goods from Vons – Vegetables from Sprouts – meat from Stater Brothers – Never mind that we could have got everything at the first store.
Occasionally I got really lucky and had to take a trip to Target - It was like being in an Iowa cornfield maze with Eva.

No table facing the kitchen is acceptable.

Any road trip with Eva I made, I insisted that she sit behind me – I always said that so she could see Jann in the Front seat – actually I didn’t want her to see the speedometer.

She earned the nickname the “General” as she reminded me of a General, I served as young 1st Lieutenant. She always let me know that she was in charge.

Some of you may have heard about her famous liquor valet, a handy black essential piece of luggage that held three assorted adult bottled beverages, glasses, silver serving tray and corkscrew – it made every road trip and gambling excursion to Las Vegas of the last 30 plus years. The first night was always an occasion to have an in-room happy hour before going out to dinner or gambling.

Speaking of road trips – we retraced the route to California taken from Iowa as you have already heard, for her 95th birthday, two years ago She was in her traditional seat…. behind me – it was one of the best road trips ever. There were many firsts on the trip …one of note. She had her first trip through a drive through car wash and at the conclusion turned to Jann and said, “Can we do that again.”

But then there was the never-ending battle of where to have lunch. The Fish Sandwich from McDonalds, which was my preferred road trip lunch, figured prominently…. until we were approaching Grand Island, Nebraska. She put her foot down as I approached McDonalds off the Interstate. Jann immediately went to the internet and found what turned out to be the world’s greatest sandwich shop…The Farmers Daughter Café. Four and a half stars.

Cooking – I’ve always loved to cook, and it turns out my mother-in-law was a great cook. On of the greatest compliments was when she’d call me for cooking tips, ideas, and a what do you think question. She started calling me Chef John. Never had a bad meal when she was at the cooktop.

The blog – after she passed, we discovered that she saved every blog I wrote. The blog thing started in 2020 when the pandemic killed my nascent real estate sales activity. Jann said why don’t you write a blog about what’s happening in the world. So, I did and do. I always got a call from her about what I had written that started with her saying, “I had to look up a couple of words” (I’d always throw in a 50-cent word just for her) and “where is this all going?” And we’d talk. I miss those calls. She was so with it politically and culturally…no grass growing under her feet.

There are so many things I will miss now that my dear friend and mother-in-law has reunited with Don.

I’m sure that when Jann and I take a road trip I will always think of her sitting behind me –
I know when we cook, I’ll always say -- “I wonder if your Mom would like this.”
I will miss her telling me that I need to watch something on PBS, Turner Classic Movies or dare I say it…Fox News.

But most of all I will miss her wisdom about making a decision, her always saying as Tom pointed out ----“If not now…when”.

There’s only one thing I won’t miss…. grocery shopping at three stores.
God rest your beautiful soul Eva and thank you for letting Jann be my wife.
I love you and will miss you more than you’ll ever know…my friend.