Daryl Lee Bunch

Daryl Bunch, prominent throughout the mid-west as a motivator, salesman, and businessman and based in Cherokee, Iowa, passed away in Kennesaw, Georgia on January 31, 2015 from complications following a six and a half year fight with ALS. He was 60 years old. With the ability to believe and hope in anyone, in any circumstance, without bitterness or anger, he managed to wage war with an invincible, invisible opponent far longer than anyone else believed humanly possible. Personifying this best is perhaps a video of him that circulated among family and friends putting on a small golfing mat while on a breathing tube in the ICU. Among his many extraordinary gifts, this ability to believe and hope was so conspicuous that his two sons, Robert and Andrew, nicknamed him the Rainmaker. This apt label was chosen from one of Daryl's favorite songs by Tanya Tucker, 'Lizzie and the Rainman,' where a man visits west Texas and promises to make it make it rain with nothing more than promoting belief in the local people. He succeeds. This personified Daryl's ability and passion to a very fine degree. His siblings and co-workers often asked his wife, Robin, 'what fire drove him.' Whether mowing his lawn in a three-piece business suit over lunch, or washing his son's friend's dusty car on the precious 4th of July at Lake Okoboji, he only seemed to stop because his body required him to sleep to continue building, growing, and promoting belief in others. In the early days of his career, family, and social life he was fixated on personal growth, but became known for saying, 'once you've become successful personally, the only new success and joy is to help others become successful.' This was especially true throughout the later days of his life. An avid golfer, an erratic, injury-prone dancer and karaoke singer, and lover of Lake Okoboji, he spent most of his free time using his marvelous hosting gift to bless and bring out the best in others with these passions, teaching others to ski, sing, or putt. Serving on the church board and choir at Meriden Evangelical Free Church for more than a decade, he provided salt and leadership to a bright Christian ministry in northwest Iowa that has spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to many. An exceptional gift giver, he still cherished most life experiences with his family and friends beyond all and carried a video camera throughout his life so that he and others could remember the priceless moments spent together. His son Andrew recalls him once saying that he was paid primarily to help people see the obvious. Perhaps this is the most obvious thing of all; Daryl's whole life was not a fragmented list of business success stories or family and church trips but a massive, colorful, and beautiful mosaic of precious and sublime moments with the people he loved. At Daryl's passing, he had succeeded at his every goal and many, many people will testify to the Rainmaker's legacy: fiercely believing, loving, and loyal husband, father, brother, Christian, and friend. Daryl's wife Robin and daughter Jamie testified that even to the day of his death, he remained hopeful, positive, and unbroken. He is survived by his wife Robin of Cherokee, IA, his daughter Jamie and her husband Eric Staveness of Kennesaw GA and their daughter Brooklyn, his son Robert of Atlanta, GA, his son Andrew and his wife Kimberly of Tampa, FL, and seven older siblings, brother Ronald and wife Patricia Bunch of Cedar Rapids, IA, sister Marilyn Horn and husband Jerald of Tucson, AZ, sister Zelda Davis and husband Walt of Norwalk, IA, sister Louise Ball and husband Chuck of Leon, IA, brother Dennis and wife Judy of Johnston, IA, sister Donnella Welborn and her husband Wayne of Leon, IA, and sister Joan Gandy and her husband Harold 'Bunker' of Indianola, IA, and many nieces and nephews. Daryl was eagerly awaiting two more unborn grandchildren. He is proceeded in death by his father James and mother Marjorie and grandson, Andrew Lee Bunch, Jr.

SERVICES

OFFICIATING

CASKET BEARERS

VISITATION

MUSIC

INTERMENT