“Mr. Funk” passes at 98; funeral on Dec.29

I was in my late 70s when I first met Philip Funk. In deference to his age – he was 13 years older than me, almost in his 90s – I always addressed him as “Mister” and we developed an unlikely friendship. I saw him often where he worked for the Town at the Refuse and Recycle Center at the end of Manassas Avenue and missed him when he retired two years ago.

Several years passed and, as a local newspaper reporter, he’d given me sufficient information about himself that I decided to write an article about him. He had quite a personal history but was sufficiently self-effacing that he initially shrugged me off with an “Aw, shucks!” attitude. That quickly became an “Oh, well!” which led to not one but several articles, one of which led from high drama near his workplace.

This incident does not appear in his formal obituary – oh yes! I should mention. My late-life friend, Mr. Funk – Philip Edward Funk, Sr.- died December 20 aged 98 at Front Royal’s Lynn Care Center mostly from old age but he’d told me earlier about his cancer and it eventually got him.

He’d agreed with me in our conversations that he should have gone sooner since a collision with a train at the railroad crossing near his work totaled his car. He walked away from it and was at work the following week when I saw him and he told me about the accident – with a smile. High drama indeed!

By this time, I’d learned that Mr. Funk was the father of Juanita Tewalt who was the wife of Town Council member, Eugene Tewalt, which made him Gene’s father-in-law. I also learned that Mr. Funk at some point had become, unheralded until I “heralded” him, the Town’s oldest employee. One of my disappointments in recent years was that I missed, due to travel, his retirement date in 2016 when the Town presented him with a certificate recognizing his 34 years of service to our community.

What I never missed after Juanita put me on the invitation list was the celebration of his birthdays in April of each year where, inevitably, I met his ex-military buds and his many family members who, this week, honored me by including me as an honorary pallbearer at his funeral (Saturday, December 29, 11 a.m. at Stover Memorial Chapel in Strasburg).

Among the stories we shared whenever I stopped at the “dump” as we called it was his days in the U.S. Army in World War II where he served in the Philippines. More drama there, too, though too much to mention here. Wearing his veteran’s cap, Mr. Funk attended our Memorial Day ceremonies at the Gazebo in recent years leading to more mentions in the local press which he’d come to quietly enjoy.

In our conversations, he related the tough times people had in the “hungry 30s” when, to gain employment, he worked in the Valley for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) leading into his military service which, on Saturday, leads to the full military honors he will receive during his burial at Panorama Memorial Gardens.

Following the war, Mr. Funk enjoyed a 36-year career with the M.J. Grove company followed by his 34 years with the Town of Front Royal. While he worked in Front Royal, Mr. Funk lived in the Middletown area and regularly commuted to West Virginia to visit with his lovely companion, Louise Link at Capon Bridge.

It was his drives to West Virginia that led to another story that Mr. Funk told on himself when he applied for a drivers’ license renewal after turning 90 years of age. He passed the test but was restricted largely to the town area. He asked for, and got, after a re-test on Interstate 81, a full permit so he could continue to visit his Capon Bridge companion!

A good storyteller and a good friend was Mr. Funk, and I shall miss him. R.I.P.