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

Post Office downtown

Post Office downtown in 219 mills ave. el paso texas 79901

Plaza Theatre

Plaza Theatre in 125 pioneer plaza

Plaza Theatre

Plaza Theatre in 125 pioneer plaza

El Paso Museum of History

El Paso Museum of History in510 N Santa Fe St, El Paso, TX 79901

La Placita Fountain

La Placita located in E San Antonio St and Magoffin St in El ...

Kress Building - El Paso Texas

Kress department store first opened its doors in El Paso in ...

Kress Building

Kress department store first opened its doors in El Paso in ...

Hotel Plaza and Kress Building

The image shows the buildings on the southeastern side of San ...

San Jacinto Plaza

San Jacinto Plaza is an historic park located in the heart of ...

Pancho Villa Loved Ice Cream

Pancho Villa in an ice cream store in downtown El Paso, Texas. ...

Automobiles in Front of Johnson's Automobile Repair Shop

Three cars are parked in front of Johnson's Automobile Repair ...

Hotel Orndorff

The Hotel Orndorff was opened in 1926 at San Jacinto Plaza. One ...

EPCC Rio Grande Campus

The El Paso Community College (EPCC) Rio Grande is located at ...

EPCC Rio Grande Campus

The El Paso Community College (EPCC) Rio Grande is located at ...

EPCC El Paso Community College Rio Grande Campus

The College Rio Grande Campus is located in 100 West Rio Grande ...

El Paso Public library main branch

El Paso Public library main branch in 501 N. Oregon El Paso Tx ...

El Paso Public library main branch

El Paso Public library main branch in 501 N. Oregon El Paso Tx ...

El Paso Public Library

This is the El Paso Public library main branch in 501 N. Oregon ...

El Paso Public library main branch

El Paso Public library main branch in 501 N. Oregon El Paso Tx ...

Hotel Orndorff

The image shows the Hotel Orndorff, which was is on the present ...

View over Downtown El Paso

The image shows a great view over El Paso downtown buildings. ...

Great view of Downtown El Paso

The image shows a great view over El Paso downtown buildings. ...

Panoramic view over El Paso downtown

The picture is made from north of Downtown and shows El Paso ...

home.search_collection