Mary Louise Bunker

Mary Louise Bunker died unexpectedly after a brief illness at Memorial Medical Center in Jacksonville on Friday, April 12, 2013. She was a beloved wife and mother of six. She was born to Louisa Teresa Barie and John Joseph Zurenko on January 8, 1925 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mary Lou moved to Jacksonville with her husband, John Austin Bunker, in 1952. She was an avid reader who enjoyed cooking for her family, a skilled seamstress, a world traveler and member of the Women's Guild of Assumption Catholic Church. After raising her children, Mary Lou returned to college and proudly earned her BS in Education from the University of North Florida. She then taught at Assumption Catholic School for fifteen years. Following her retirement she volunteered as a Eucharistic Minister at Assumption, at the American Cancer Society, as a Guardian ad Litem, as a merit badge counselor for the Boy Scouts, and in the Learn to Read and English as a Second Language programs. She touched many lives with her gentle kindness, made friends wherever she went, and drew her strength from God, her family and her many friends. Mary Lou was preceded in death by a son, John Christopher. She leaves behind, her husband of 68 years, John; five children, Susan Altieri (Toney), Paula Fuller (Bryant), Michael Bunker (Pamela), Elisabeth Finnegan (Jay), and John Bunker; thirteen grandchildren, Cynthia Muller, Melissa Scoma, Timothy Powell, John Fuller, Michael Bunker, Christopher Bunker, Lindsay Bunker, Ryan Finnegan, Katie Neely, Laura Finnegan, Austin Bunker, Jack Bunker, and Will Bunker; fourteen great-grandchildren, Kathryn Muller, Bella, Ava, Lexi and Carolina Scoma, Luke and Ian Powell, Lana, Landon, Logan and Lulu Bunker, Oliver and Violet Finnegan, and James Neely. The family will receive friends at the church from six o'clock until eight o'clock in the evening on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 with a Vigil Service at seven o'clock. A funeral mass will be celebrated at one o'clock in the afternoon and the family will receive friends one hour prior to the service on Thursday, April 18, 2013 at Assumption Catholic Church, 2403 Atlantic Blvd., with Father Donal Sullivan as celebrant. Interment will be in Oaklawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donation be made in her name to a favorite charity or Annunciation Catholic School, 1610 Blanding Blvd., Middleburg, FL 32068. HARDAGE-GIDDENS, THE OAKLAWN CHAPEL, 4801 San Jose Boulevard is serving the family.