Sheila Jean Nunley

1954 - 2025

Sheila Jean Bunge Nunley was born October 4th, 1954, in Austin Texas. She was the second child of Jean (Evans) Bunge and Ewald William Bunge. She passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loving family, on July 15th, 2025 in Austin.

Sheila enjoyed her young life in Austin and graduated from McCallum High School in 1973. She continued her education at the University of Texas Austin, graduating in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition. She spent her college years working for The Kitchen Door, which is where she decided to make Food Management her profession!

At a party in 1971 she met the love her life, Mark Nunley. After a few weeks of dating, Mark asked Sheila if she knew how to make his favorite dish of meatloaf, when she replied yes he decided she was the one for him. They were married in the beautiful flower filled garden of her family home in 1976. Sheila had a catering business at the time and prepared all of the food served! In 1981 they welcomed their first son, Nathan Andrew, and three years later they welcomed another beautiful boy, Benjamin Evans. With their "two good boys", a sequence of lovable dogs, a boat on Lake Travis, and a lot of Texas football, Sheila and Mark were happily married for 49 years.

Beyond the day to day schedule of their lives, Sheila and Mark enjoyed visiting beach towns all over the world. These trips created lifelong memories for them and included St. John snorkeling and swimming with the tarpon, Costa Rican waterslides, zip-lines and mud baths, Puerto Rican rain forests and shops along Old San Juan, endless beach walks along Antigua's coast to "ring the bell", dancing with flamingos in Nassau, spotting Ernest Hemingway's 6 toed cats in Key West, sugar mills in St. Kitts, relaxing in the Cayman Islands, hunting for sand dollars in their beloved Port Aransas, and celebrating Sheila's mother Jean's 80th birthday with family in Honolulu. While the beaches were a blast, Sheila's favorite travel was always to see her "two good boys", Ben in Seattle, Washington, and Nathan and his family in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Whether she was drinking beer steins with Ben in a Northwestern mountain town, or digging into shellfish or at a boardwalk arcade with Nathan and his girls along the New England coast, time spent in these two corners of the country was always magical.

Aside from wife, mom, and manager, one of the most important roles Sheila played was that of "Mema", the beloved grandmother of her "two good granddaughters," Bryce (11) and Harper Jean (8). Bryce and Harper adored their Mema. During her visits to Boston, they would barrel into her room just after the sun rose, excited to help her pick out her jewelry for the day, a joyful ritual that brought them close. Together, they built decadent gingerbread houses, shared stories, and dared each other to race down water slides at Kalahari or splash in bumper boats at local farms. They loved tagging along in her garden, filling deer feeders, tending plants, playing games, and spending time crafting recipes and cooking in the kitchen, where Mema's love of food and family was always at the heart of the fun. These moments with Mema are treasured by Bryce and Harper, full of laughter, love, and memories to last a lifetime.

Sheila was a true and gifted "foodie", way ahead of her time. Beginning in high school she regularly created delicious, nutritious dinners for her busy family of four. For the rest of her life cooking in the kitchen for her family, with a health serving of her trademark laughter, was her "happy place". Upon graduating from college, she became a Kitchen Manager for the finest restaurant in Austin, Green Pastures, as well as Choices & Tres Amigos. She then went onto join the corporate world and managed extensive kitchen and café facilities at Motorola and Dell campuses. Sheila retired from Compass Group in 2022, celebrating with a first-time trip to Disney World with her granddaughters, proudly wearing "just retired" buttons.

Sheila is survived by her husband, Mark Stephen Nunley of Austin, son Nathan Andrew Nunley and his wife Courtney, daughters Bryce Hope and Harper Jean, of Lynnfield, Massachusetts; son Ben Evans Nunley of Seattle, Washington; sister Sandra Bunge Wilson and husband Dr. Paul R. Wilson, of Austin; sister-in-law, Karen Elizabeth Nunley of Austin; and countless extended family, friends, former colleagues, and neighbors.

A memorial is planned for 11:00 a.m., Thursday, August 14th, 2025, at St. John's United Methodist Church, 2140 Allandale Road in Austin, followed by a reception in the church hall. Sheila was member of St. John's since 1967, and spent the last several years volunteering on St. John's Hospitality Committee. For those unable to attend in person, a livestream of the service can be found at stjohnsaustin.org/live.

The family would like to thank St. David's North Austin Medical Center for their skillful, compassionate, loving care. A private family cemetery service and burial will be held prior to the church service.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to the charity of your choice, with Sheila's name in mind.

Online condolences may be made at www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com.