Barbara Funkhouser, El Paso Times
Barbara Funkhouser

Barbara Funkhouser, El Paso Times

El Paso Times Editor - first woman editor of The El Paso Times. Barbara Funkhouser is the only female editor in the newspaper's 133-year history. She was editor from 1980 to 1986. Funkhouser began her career in 1958 as a freelancer for a year, then worked for a Las Cruces paper for a year before being hired at the El Paso Times. Funkhouser also wrote the coffee-table book, "The Caregivers: El Paso's Medical History, 1898-1998." Funkhouser was born March 1, 1930, at Hotel Dieu hospital and was raised on a farm in Fairacres, near Las Cruces, that her parents had owned since 1924. Her father died when she was 6, and her mother ran the farm with the help of hired labor, according to an oral history she did in 1996 with the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. She graduated from Las Cruces Union High School and from New Mexico State University in 1952. She spent six months in Europe on a 4-H Club exchange program and then worked for five years for the 4-H organization in Washington, D. C., and Chicago, before returning to New Mexico and beginning her career as a journalist, according to the oral history. During her 30-year career at the El Paso Times, Funkhouser interviewed singer-artist Vikki Carr in 1973 and 21-year-old Kurt Russell when he joined the El Paso Sun Kings baseball team. Funkhouser also covered the El Paso premiere of the 1968 film "Firecreek", and interviewed James Stewart, Barbara Luna, director Vincent McEveety and screenwriter Calvin Clements. Funkhouser retired from the El Paso Times on June 1, 1990. She taught at New Mexico State University and was a part-time editorial writer for the Las Cruces Sun-News for several years. (Source: Alex Hinojosa, Robert Moore, El Paso Times article written August 18, 2014) March is Women's History Month

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Reference ID: 013-1984-050

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

Little cars

At the museum

Trailblazers Overnight Campout- July 2018

Paddle boat races at the Overnight Campout put on by the ...

El Paso Jewish Academy and Friends at the El Paso History Museum

It was so much fun to meet downtown and have a special tour of ...

El Paso YOUNG ghostbusters

El Paso YOUNG ghostbusters

El Paso YOUNG ghostbusters

El Paso YOUNG ghostbusters

El Paso YOUNG ghostbusters

El Paso YOUNG ghostbusters

El Paso YOUNG ghostbusters

El Paso YOUNG ghostbusters

Peaceful March on N. Oregon

A peaceful march, protesting the construction of the Border ...

Endangered Species Mural

Mural depicting endangered species in the Border region that ...

Sunset in Segundo

Watching the sunset from a balcony in Segundo Barrio

Artist Glen in his studio at the art junction.

Artist Glen in his studio at the art junction.

Mariachi Postcard

This vintage 1940s postcard features Mariachi's playing for two ...

San Jacinto Plaza Postcard

This 1940s postcard features the grassy land that was San ...

Historical Downtown Ghost Tour (outside Scottish Rite)

Image from a historical ghost tour in Downtown El Paso. Tour ...

El Paso Community College District Established

The El Paso County Community College District was established ...

EPCC Rio Grande Campus Completed

The dedication and ribbon-cutting of the Rio Grande campus took ...

EPCC Rio Grande Learning Resource Center Completed circa 1996

The Learning Resource Center Addition at Rio Grande was ...

EPCC Rio Grande Health and Sciences Laboratory Building Opened

Paid for by revenue bonds at no cost to the taxpayer, the Health ...

EPCC Health Program Receives HOPE Funding

In February, a grant from Project Hope supported the creation ...

EPCC Health Program Receives HOPE Funding

In February, a grant from Project Hope supported the creation ...

EPCC Health Program Receives HOPE Funding

In February, a grant from Project Hope supported the creation ...

home.search_collection