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SPEAKING
of Heaven
G
od dropped some chunks
of heaven from the sky; the
best one landed in Alpine,
Wyoming, according to Steven
Funk, developer of The Refuge, a
world-class fly-in community.
By June Johnston
Photography by Funk Brothers
back on rounds in the evening, then
he pushed the reset button and
did it all over again the next day…
and the day after. So, no, he wasn’t
especially happy with his career.
Steven was raised in Iowa and
attended Purdue University on
an athletic scholarship studying
dentistry. Moving on to oral surgery,
Funk relocated to Vancouver,
Canada in 1979 for his residency.
While there, he was invited to a
party at the home of a real estate
tycoon; there he met a gentleman
that forever changed his life.
Mr. Skalbania pointed his finger at
Steven and ordered, “Kid, come to
work for me,” and he walked away.
He later learned that Mr. Skalbania
owned five sports franchises, tons
of real estate, gas, a brewery, a
submarine manufacturing plant, and
the list goes on. Apparently Steven
decided that he could learn some
things from Mr. Skalbania, so he
did, indeed, go to work for him.
Mr. Nelson Skalbania, the largest
entrepreneur in Canada, asked
Steven if he was happy with what
he was doing. Steven explained
that he did his hospital rounds at
6:30 AM, was in the surgical suite
by 9:00, in his office by 1:00 PM,
Steven went on to build five
international companies that became
top in their categories along with
a host of other businesses. Then in
2007 he chose to sell them, “…not
because I was so smart but my oldest
three boys didn’t want them,” Steven
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