We review some aspects of the theory of spherical Bessel functions and Struve functions by means of an operational procedure essentially of umbral nature, capable of providing the straightforward evaluation of their definite integrals and of successive derivatives. The method we propose allows indeed the formal reduction of these family of functions to elementary ones of Gaussian type. We study the problem in general terms and present a formalism capable of providing a unifying point of view including Anger and Weber functions too. The link to the multi-index Bessel functions is also briefly discussed.