From becoming the first female flight instructor at a U.S. military base to being the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, Funk has never stayed on the sidelines.
However, her greatest dream—going to space—seemed like less of a possibility as the years went on, until she was given the opportunity to make history once more aboard Blue Origin’s first human flight. On July 20, Funk boarded Blue Origin’s New Shepard space tourism rocket alongside Jeff Bezos, its founder, and two others.
In doing so, she became the oldest person to go to space at the age of 82.
“All I felt [while going up] was a tiny bump—never heard a whole lot,” Funk said of her trip to space. “And then, I got to fly around in space for three minutes.”
Funk’s accomplishment made her hometown of Grapevine proud, and a parade was held for her on Aug. 7 to commemorate her as an American hero.
“As the years seemed to slip away, Wally always told me she was going to go to space someday,” said Grapevine Mayor William D. Tate, who is also a longtime friend of Funk's. “I don’t know, with all the people in America, in the world [how Jeff Bezos found her]... but he found the perfect person.”
In 1961, Funk participated in the Women In Space Program, a privately-funded program where she underwent the same training as the men who were being prepared at the time for space travel. Funk and the 12 other women who participated in the short-lived program became known as the Mercury 13.
Of the 13 women, only Funk has been to space and, today, Funk is the last surviving member from the original program.
“When we announced that we were going to fly Wally, we were so inspired, having read about her and watched documentaries and known the public person that Wally is,” said Audrey Powers, head of Blue Origin’s New Shepard Mission & Flight Operations. “But I tell you, as we got to know her, she was even more inspiring.”
After the Mercury 13 program was shut down, Funk went on with her career, leaving her mark across the aviation industry. She ended up advocating for aviation safety across the country and served the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and has clocked more than 200,000 hours of flight time.
While Funk finally accomplished her biggest dream of traveling to space, she’s said she’s not slowing down anytime soon.
“I did a lot of places but the most fabulous thing of my life was being with Blue Origin,” Funk said. “And of course ... I want to go back up with [Bezos] again.”
