Services were held today for Joan Bing Kirke, wife of Greater Des Moines businessman Gary Kirke, who died last Friday at home. She was 65. The Kirkes met in Chicago and were married in 1967. They moved to Des Moines in 1973 and raised four children: Gary Kirke Jr., Tim Kirke, Charlie Kirke and Jonna Kirke Crandell. In her obituary, her children recalled “their mother as always putting them first — a human library who seemed to remember and have cataloged everything that had ever happened to them. She encouraged them to be artistic and infected the children with her sense of curiosity and penchant for travel. By the time she graduated from high school, she had been to all of the lower 48 states. She made sure her children had the same advantage and added Hawaii and Alaska.” Joan Kirke was born in Chicago and grew up in Evanston, Ill. She was the descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the child of a patent lawyer and a devotee of the arts. She had a degree in fashion design from Stevens College in Columbia, Mo., and attended the Art Institute of Chicago.

Employee & Family Resources is looking for a new owner of the license it holds for radio station KFMG in order to focus on its core programs and services, such as prevention and community services, substance assessment, employee assistance program and training and coaching. The organization obtained the low-power license for KFMG in 2007. KFMG has featured a format of progressive and adult alternative music, local arts, entertainment, literature, poetry, quality-of-life and community outreach.

Dutch financial services group ING Groep N.V. said it has closed the sale of its life insurance and wealth management venture in Australia and New Zealand to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., for about 1.1 billion euros ($1.66 billion U.S.) in cash. According to ING, the transaction has generated a net profit of 325 million euros and has freed up 950 million euros of capital; the sale will reduce the debt-to-equity ratio for ING Insurance by 365 basis points. ING said in a statement that the final terms are “slightly better” than those initially estimated in September, when it had said the transaction would generate an estimated net profit of 300 million euros and free up 900 million euros of capital, while reducing the ING Insurance’s debt-to-equity ratio by 345 basis points. ING said it will continue to streamline its diversified businesses in the Asia-Pacific region as it is now reviewing life insurance activities in China. The group also claimed that up to 15 of its businesses have been identified for divestment over the coming years.

The University of Northern Iowa has introduced a new online resource to improve small-business access to capital through Iowa’s online community for small business owners and entrepreneurs at www.myentre.net. The Iowa Money Map offers small business owners and entrepreneurs access to more than 800 grants, loans and equity investment programs available in the state to support business start-up and expansion. The map includes a click-through county map of Iowa and a searchable listing of public programs sorted by type of incentive.

News Corp. has joined a new, independent digital publishing consortium in the United States that includes Des Moines-based Meredith Corp., Time Inc., Conde Nast and Hearst Corp., the Financial Times reported. People familiar with the plan said the group is working on a reading application, a “robust” publishing platform, a digital storefront for consumers and a lineup of “immersive advertising opportunities,” the Financial Times said.