Irene Houk

Irene Houk -- St. Anne Visitation for Irene Houk, 93, of St. Anne, will be from 9 a.m. Saturday until the 11 a.m. services at the Clancy-Gernon-Houk Funeral Home, St. Anne. Rev. Ron Murphy will officiate. Burial will be in St. Anne Township Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church, St. Anne, Daily Vacation Bible School Fund. She died Wednesday (March 8, 2006) at Provena St. Mary's Hospital, Kankakee. Mrs. Houk and her husband operated Houk Funeral Home. Irene and Floyd went into partnership with Mrs. C. Woodington in 1931 and purchased the funeral business and furniture store from her in 1934. They ran the business selling furniture, paint, glass and radios until 1950 at which time they discontinued the furniture store and purchased the Tom Hughes home. They remodeled the home into the present funeral home which they ran until the early 1970s when they retired. She was born June 27, 1912, in Watseka, the daughter of Jack W. and Dovie Spurgen Starkey. Her husband, Floyd R. Houk, whom she married Nov. 14, 1931, in Piper City, died April 2, 2001. She enjoyed her grandchildren and gardening. Surviving are two sons and daughters-in-law, Glenn and Lynn Houk and Jack and Lucia Houk, all of St. Anne; two daughters and one son-in-law, Janis Howard of Homewood and Joanne and Ronald Grubbs of St. Anne; 11 grandchildren, Lisa Caraway of St. Anne, Lana Cooper of Park City, Utah, Lori Blair of Bourbonnais, Susan Hinrichs of Locust Grove, Ga., Maria Groff of Charleston, Jackie Houk of St. Anne, Julie Venditti of Fleetwood, Pa., Amy Dobrez of Frankfort, Jeff Grubbs of St. Anne, James Grubbs of Indiana and Jeanne Blauw of La Grange; 26 great-grandchildren, Joshua and Jeremy Caraway, Nicole and Page Cooper, Jordan, Jenna, Jonah and Josiah Blair, Michael and Rebecca Hinrichs, Ashley, Cory and Whitney Groff, Jordan Mulladay, Blake and Eric Venditti, Ryan and Brianna Dobrez, Amanda, Andrew, Adam, Max and Dylan Grubbs, Gabriella, Henry and Cleo Blauw; and two sisters and one brother-in-law, Wauneta Beaupre of Bourbonnais and Lois and Russel Handy of Waverly, Ohio. Deceased are her parents, one brother, Homer Starkey; and one sister, Mildred Giardina.

Irene Houk

June 27, 1912 - March 8, 2006