Executive David Jack Funes, 59, Was A World-Class Skeet Shooter

David Jack Funes knew his chairs and credenzas. As partner and heir to his father's furniture business, including the Funes & Ozeil store in Seattle, he took the firm to new levels.

Furniture and the finance field fed his family, but competitive skeet shooting - and the camaraderie that came with it - fed his soul.

"Shooting was his life," said his daughter Julia Brown of Bellevue. "He was very good at it, but what he really enjoyed was helping others."

A friend, Dr. Mark Urmanski of Olympia, said Mr. Funes - a bearlike, vivacious man with keen negotiating skills - tried to assist others whenever he saw the need, whether in business or shooting.

"He didn't do it to be a big shot,"said Urmanski, "but just to help them enjoy the sport."

Mr. Funes also doted on his family. He brought them into the sport, coaching his wife, Eva Funes of Redmond, and his son, Jack Funes of Seattle. A highlight was sharing the team gold medal with them at the 1985 Maccabiah World Shooting Championships in Israel.

That was only one of many honors for Mr. Funes, who died of a brain tumor April 29 at 59.

He was not a promoter of gun rights, although he belonged to many groups, including the National Rifle Association and Washington Skeet Shooting Association. He had been a multiterm president of the Seattle Skeet and Trap Club.

Last year, Mr. Funes was inducted into the Washington State Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame.

Born and reared in Seattle, Mr. Funes served in the Army in Germany in the 1950s, and met the woman who would become his wife at the PX in 1957.

He worked in the family business and became president/owner of General Acceptance Corp. and National Furniture Rental and Sales Inc., which had been his idea.

After a back injury prevented him from playing golf, Mr. Funes took up shooting. He traveled all over the world for the sport.

"He had a tremendous knowledge of the technical and mental part of shooting," his wife said. "He gave a lot to it."

Other survivors include his daughter Deborah Funes of Bellevue, and sisters Estelle Handlin and Rachel Calvo, both of Redmond.

Services have been held. Remembrances may be made to the Sephardic Bikur Holim, 6500 52nd Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98118, or to the Brain Tumor Research Fund, c/o Dr. Mitchell Berger, Department of Neurological Surgery, School of Medicine, R1-20, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98195.