Edmund Bailey Funston (May 19, 1868 – May 10, 1933) was an American architect in Racine, Wisconsin. He is credited with designing the Badger Building (1916). He was the founder of Edmund B. Funston Company Architects. Funston was born in Champaign County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

on May 19, 1868, to John H. Funston and Elizabeth E. (Bailey) Funston. Funston graduated in 1892 with a Bachelor of Science architecture degree from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. He taught in a manual training school in Colorado for two years before working in

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and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. He worked as superintendent of construction at Jos. C. Llewellyn of Chicago for five years, including work on the construction of five buildings at the University of Illinois. He also superintended the rebuilding of the Advance Threshing Machine Company's building in Battle Creek, Michigan. Funston came to Racine and was associated with A. Arthur Guilbert as a partner from 1905 until 1915. The firm of Guilbert & Funston, Architects designed the Welsh Presbyterian church (Racine, Wisconsin), the First Methodist Church (Racine, Wisconsin), Grange Avenue Methodist Church, the First National Bank building, the Commercial & Savings Bank building, N. D. Fratt School, Elks club house (Racine, Wisconsin), Racine Country Club building, Fire engine houses Nos. 1 and 2, and an office building for the Mitchell-Lewis Motor Company. After Guilbert & Funston dissolved in 1915, Funston organized the firm of Edmund B. Funston Company. P. T. Beicher was his assistant. In 1915-16 he oversaw the design and construction of the 4-story Badger office building. He also designed the manufacturing plant for the Hamilton Beach Manufacturing Company, remodeled the Masonic temple, and designed an office building for David B. James S. Company. He founded the Funston Long Distance Telephone Company and constructed a telephone toll line from

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

east through Wisconsin. They acquired the control of the Missouri River Telephone Company and the Dakota Telephone & Electric Company, and Funston became president of all three. Funston married Miss Ella M. Kephart of Ravenswood, Chicago, on August 23, 1905. Their daughter Jeanette was born November 27, 1915.RACINE BELLE CITY OF THE LAKES AND RACINE COUNTY WISCONSIN-ILLUSTRATED VOLUME II Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1916 Funston died at his residence in

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

, on May 10, 1933.Funeral Register Volume 16 : Carey Hand Funeral Home records, December 9, 1932 to December 9, 1933.
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Bibliography

*Record of the Funston family: Seven generations, 1765-1925 including biographical sketches, family tree and selected quotations. Unknown Binding January 1, 1925

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