Alfred Funk

Alfred Funk, husband, father and grandfather, passed away Sept. 28 at his home in Bozeman at the age of 100. He was born on June 24, 1914 in Rose Lodge, Ore.

The youngest, with two sisters, Alfred grew up in the hills near Taft (Lincoln City) on the Oregon coast.

He stayed on the homestead until the age of 24, meanwhile graduating from the one-teacher high school at Rose Lodge and completing two years at Pacific College in Newberg. Then he entered Oregon State at Corvallis.

When the Depression hit, his money low, Al joined the Army, serving five years, seven months in the infantry in World War II.

After the war Alfred worked as a driller on Anderson dam in Idaho for two years and then returned to college on the GI bill and earned a masters in speech communications at the University of Oregon.

After travelling around the world, teaching high school in Iraq and Burma, returning to the U.S., he earned a Ph.D. in rhetoric and public address at the University of Washington.

At age 42 Alfred married Rochelle DeVidas. A two-time Fulbright scholar, he met her in Pompeii, Italy when on a Fulbright assignment. They were married in London. Rochelle and Al remained together for 52 years, until her passing in 2008 at the age of 86.

Al taught at Texas Tech University, the University of Wyoming and Montana State University, retiring at the age of 60.

At 68 he began entering masters track and field meets and there met with extraordinary success. In some 70 or 80 races over the next 15 years or more, he never failed to win first in his age division. Probably his most notable performance was at the World Masters Championships in 1989 where he lapped all but one of 15 competitors in the 5-kilometer run and set what was then a world record for 75 year olds and older.

He retired from his Masters competitive career in 2000, after collecting two world and six U.S. records in the middle distance events. He won 14 national titles.

Al loved the outdoors, physical labor, fishing, camping and hiking.

He is survived by his two sons, Dan Funk of Roberts, Wisc., and Eric Funk and daughter-in-law Debra Funk, of Whitefish; grandchildren, Rachel and Michael Funk, of Roberts, Wisc., and Katrina Funk, of Whitefish.

Dad loved beauty and nature, physical activity and the fresh air. He had a keen mind and an amazing ability to see all sides of a challenge. He always believed in exercise to stay healthy.

He is one of the few people to not only drive at 100, but to also argue his case to authorities as to why he should renew his driver’s license for another four years. In Dad’s words “I think I gave a good argument,” which we are certain he did. It was probably the only argument they’d heard coming from a 100-year-old Ph.D. and former speech professor.

Some of his fondest thoughts and activities were of hiking in the Spanish Peaks, working in his yard and rooting for the Bobcats and Oregon Ducks He was an inspiration to many.

At his request, cremation has taken place, and no services are planned at this time