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

Family Tschantié's Car

This picture features the children of the family Tschantié ...

City Hall, El Paso, TX 1899-1959

This picture shows the El Paso City Hall during the Second World ...

Popular Dry Goods Building

The Popular Dry Goods Building was part of the Popular Dry Goods ...

Hotel Hussmann

Hotel Hussmann during the winter (now Cortez building). San ...

Overview Shot of El Paso

Overview shot of El Paso Downtown area, facing east. On the ...

Stagecoach in Parade

A stagecoach is joining the parade pulled by four mules. A sign ...

Indians in parade

Young men holding a flag (1693-1800). Parade near Hotel ...

Indians in Parade

The images shows Indians in parade in downtown El Paso in 1930. ...

Parade in Downtown El Paso

Parade in Downtown El Paso

Parade near the Pioneer Plaza

The image shows a parade near Pioneer Plaza, led by a ...

Parade near Hotel Sheldon

Parade near Hotel Sheldon (opened in 1900), going down Mills ...

Parade on South El Paso Street

Parade in front of 528 South El Paso Street (La Esmeralda store)

Railroad work crew

Men working hard at the Railroad station. Image ...

Unknown Asian Family - El Paso, Texas

Unknown Asian family--image taken in downtown El Paso, Texas.

Unknown Lady - El Paso, Texas

The image of this unknown lady was taken by the photograph ...

W.E. Race and family

W.E. Race worked for the International Water Co. at the turn of ...

Unknown woman

Unknown woman in oval picture frame, dressed in dressy attire ...

Edgar Race

This is a Bushong & Feldman Photograph from El Paso.

Unknown Woman - El Paso, Texas

Unknown woman in oval frame in dressy attire. Image ...

Unknown children

Unknown children playing in front of their house in El Paso, ...

A.W. Dutton

This F. Parker photograph was taken April 28th, 1887

Unknown man and child

Unknown man playing with his child in El Paso.

David S. Billingsley and Helen L. Billingsley

These children are identified as David S. Billingsley and Helen ...

home.search_collection