Barbara Funkhouser (March 1, 1930 – August 15, 2014) was an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held account ...

, and writer. Funkhouser was the first woman to serve as editor of the ''

El Paso Times The ''El Paso Times'' is the newspaper for the US city of El Paso, Texas. The paper is the only English-language daily in El Paso (after the ''El Paso Herald-Post'', an afternoon paper, closed in 1997), but often competes with the Spanish-languag ...

'', a position she held from 1980 until 1986.

Early life

She was born on March 1, 1930, at the Hotel Dieu hospital in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

. She was raised on her family's farm in Fairacres, New Mexico, which her parents had purchased in 1924. Her father died when she was just six-years old, leaving her mother to run the family farm with hired farm workers. She graduated from Las Cruces Union High School in nearby

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; ; lit. 'the crosses') is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the county seat, seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 United States ce ...

, and received her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in 1952 from

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

. Following college, Funkhouser participated in six month

exchange program A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or higher education study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, bu ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

through

4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times ...

. She then worked for 4-H, based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, for five years before moving back to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Journalism career

Funkhouser began her career in journalism in 1958 by working as a

freelance journalist ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

for approximately one year. She then joined the staff of a newspaper in Las Cruces for a year before being hired by the ''

''. Her career with the ''El Paso Times'' spanned more than three decades. She covered the El Paso

film premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic ...

, ''

Firecreek ''Firecreek'' is a 1968 American Western (genre), Western film directed by Vincent McEveety and starring James Stewart and Henry Fonda, the latter in his first of two roles that year as a villain (the second being Sergio Leone's ''Once Upon a ...

'', in 1968 and conducted interviews with director

Vincent McEveety Vincent Michael McEveety (August 10, 1929 – May 19, 2018) was an American film and television director and producer. Career Vince McEveety directed numerous Emmy Award-winning television series, including '' The Untouchables'', 35 episodes o ...

, screenwriter

Calvin Clements Calvin may refer to: Names * Calvin (given name) ** Particularly Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States * Calvin (surname) ** Particularly John Calvin, theologian Places In the United States * Calvin, Arkansas, a hamlet * Calvin To ...

, and actors,

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

and

Barbara Luna Barbara Ann Luna (born 2 March 1938), also stylized as BarBara Luna, is an American actress from film, television and musicals. Notable roles include Makia in '' Five Weeks in a Balloon'' and Lt. Marlena Moreau in the classic ''Star Trek'' episo ...

. She also interviewed actor and baseball player,

Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor before transitioning to leading roles as an adult in various genres such as action adventures, science-fiction, westerns, romance films, co ...

, when he joined the

El Paso Sun Kings EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

when he was 21 years old. Funkhouser conducted the El Paso Times' interview with singer

Vikki Carr Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martínez Cardona (born July 19, 1940), known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than five decades. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, she has ...

in 1973. Funkhouser served as editor of the ''El Paso Times'' from 1980 to 1986, becoming the first woman to hold that position.

Later years

She retired from the ''El Paso Times'' on June 1, 1990, after more than thirty years with the newspaper. She then joined the faculty of

and worked as a part-time editorial writer for the ''

Las Cruces Sun-News ''Las Cruces Sun-News'', founded in 1881, is a daily newspaper published in Las Cruces, New Mexico. History The ''Sun-News'' started in 1881 as the ''Rio Grande Republican'' and went through several mergers to become the ''Las Cruces Daily News ...

''. Funkhouser recorded an

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

in an interview with the

New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

in July 1996. She also wrote and published her book, "The Caregivers: El Paso's Medical History, 1898-1998." Funkhouser owned and operated the Tatreault Vineyard, located on her family's farm in Fairacres, until her death in 2014. Barbara Funkhouser died at her home in Fairacres, New Mexico, on August 15, 2014, at the age of 84. Her memorial service was held at St. James Episcopal Church in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on August 26, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Funkhouser, Barbara 1930 births 2014 deaths American newspaper editors American viticulturists Editors of Texas newspapers American newspaper journalists Journalists from New Mexico New Mexico State University faculty New Mexico State University alumni People from Doña Ana County, New Mexico Writers from El Paso, Texas Journalists from Texas