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Julie Funke Rhyasen

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Julie Funke Rhyasen stepped between lives on Sept. 22, the first day of autumn, 2013. She was removed from the ventilator in her Scottsdale ICU room after a prolonged battle against double pneumonia and infection. She was 63 years old.

She was born Julie Ann Wheeler on May 3, 1950, in Indianapolis, Ind. to Rosetta Arabelle and Paul Robert Wheeler. She married high school sweetheart William Funke in 1969; their son Brian was born in 1970.

She worked as a sales representative, a leasing agent a medical secretary, and a secretary in city government in Indianapolis and Bloomington before, in 1977 – divorced and as the single mom of a seven-year-old boy – she began a 12-year career in the printing industry as a broker, page designer, and set designer. During that period, she met and married Benjamin Wolfberger, who later succumbed to cancer.

In 1989, leaving her son Brian to study music on a scholarship to Purdue University, she moved to Phoenix and began a second career in real estate design, sales, and she became a Broker in 1995.

In 2002 an emotional earthquake, the death of her son, wrenched her from that into her third career. From 2002 to 2009, she was pivotal in a holistic health clinic based on the protocols of Edgar Cayce. She became proficient in reiki and hypnotherapy, and served as chairman of the board of trustees of the A.R.E. Clinic. Julie moved the location of the A.R.E. Clinic from 40th St. in Phoenix to Osborn Rd in Scottsdale in 2008. She met fellow student of Edgar Cayce, Reitman Rhyasen, during this period; they married in April of 2010.

Empowerment through hypnosis was Julie’s last endeavor. She had more than 1,000 hours of education in hypnosis, reiki, and other related mind/body/spirit therapies, treating clients across the Valley and North America for weight loss, pain, anxiety and self-transformation using the skills gained through her association with the clinic.

Julie valued her privacy and liked to describe herself as “just Julie from Indiana,” but she was a lady whose love and strength changed forever the hearts she touched.

Julie leaves behind her two grandsons, Ian and Jonah, in Nova Scotia, Canada, many friends in Fountain Hills, and her husband, Reitman Rhyasen.

Cremation was conducted by Tempe Mortuary. Friends of Julie Funke Rhyasen are invited to an open house on Sunday, Oct. 20. Please call (480) 297-1952 for details.