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Jean Brunk Obituary
December 5, 1932 - January 19, 2026
Jean Sherk Brunk passed away peacefully at Bayberry Commons Assisted Living in Springfield, Ore., on January 19, 2026, at the age of 93.
She was born Martha Jean Kritzer in Indiana, Pa., on December 5, 1932, the fifth of eight children. She was ranked fifth in her graduating class of 1953 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and later was mother to five children. As such, she always considered 5 her lucky number.
After graduation, she taught high school for a half year, then wed Warren A. Sherk, a Methodist minister, in New York City in 1954. The couple resided in several locations across the US, including Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Watertown, Mass.; Savannah, Ill.; Nogales, Phoenix, and Tempe, Ariz.; and Alsea and Corvallis, Ore. They remained married until his death in 1994.
In 1963 in Phoenix, she became the second woman (after Sue Bushey [later Gregg]) hired by UNIVAC as a computer programmer. A 25-year career in information systems followed: She was a technical writer and analyst and, later, programmer at General Electric (1966–70), and systems designer (1970–74), senior systems designer (1974–81), project manager (1981–84), and consulting engineer (1974–88) at Honeywell.
In Corvallis, she attended and volunteered at First Presbyterian Church, participated in Oregon State University (OSU) doctoral student Janet Shaw's Bone Research Laboratory study, and helped organize a social group called Seniors Out on the Town. She briefly came out of retirement to assist phasing out the Honeywell 6000 mainframe computer at OSU.
During an exercise class, she met H. D. (Dan) Brunk, a retired mathematics professor whose book Mathematical Statistics was a mainstay of university courses. They married in 2004; Dan passed away in 2009.
She is survived by her adult children, Elena E. Smith, Adra K. Barlow, Lydian M. Davis, Warren M. Sherk, and Wilson E. Sherk; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Westfield (New York) Cemetery Association, PO Box 507, Westfield, NY 14787, Phone: 716-269-9060.
Services in the care of Major Family Funeral Home, Springfield, Ore.
www.majorfamilyfuneralhome.com
Major Family Funeral Home
112 N. A Street, Springfield, OR 97477
(541) 746-9667
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Corvallis, OR
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