Richard Edgar Funkhouser (September 10, 1917 – May 15, 2008) was an American diplomat and geologist, specializing in oil. He served as
United States Ambassador to Gabon
This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Gabon.
Gabon had been an overseas territory of France since 1910. At that time it became part of French Equatorial Africa, which included Middle Congo (now Republic of the Congo), Chad, and O ...
.
Early years
Born in
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Edgar Bright Funkhouser and Evelyn Hayes. He attended
Taft School
The Taft School is a private, coeducational school located in Watertown, Connecticut, United States. It teaches students in 9th through 12th grades and post-graduates.
About three-quarters of Taft's roughly 600 students live on the school's ...
before entering
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, where he was a member of the
Phi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ar ...
and
Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...
, the Honorary Scientific Research Association. He graduated from Princeton with a bachelor's degree in geology in 1939 after completing a senior thesis, titled "Magnetic susceptibility of sedimentary minerals", under the supervision of
Harry H. Hess
Harry Hammond Hess (May 24, 1906 – August 25, 1969) was an American geologist and a United States Navy officer in World War II who is considered one of the "founding fathers" of the unifying theory of plate tectonics. He is best known for his th ...
.
Career
Though Funkhouser had a deferment working as a geologist in Venezuela, he volunteered for the
U.S. Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...
during World War II and was with the
Cal-Aero Academy
Chino Airport is a county-owned airport about three miles southeast of Chino, in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The Federal Aviation Administration's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2007–2011 classified it ...
Army Air Cadets Class 43-J. Following training in Texas at
Kelly Air Force Base
Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting.
In ...
Brooks Air Force Base
Brooks Air Force Base was a United States Air Force facility located in San Antonio, Texas, southeast of Downtown San Antonio.
In 2002, Brooks Air Force Base was renamed Brooks City-Base when the property was conveyed to the Brooks Developmen ...
Jackson Army Air Base
Hawkins Field is a joint civil-military public airport in Jackson, Mississippi. It is owned by the City of Jackson and operated by the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 call ...
, and
Baer Army Airfield
Fort Wayne International Airport is eight miles southwest of Fort Wayne, in Allen County, Indiana, United States. It is owned by the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority.
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 ...
. His first flights of the war began in August 1944 with the 9th Combat Cargo out of
Moran Town
Moran Town is a census town in Dibrugarh district in the Indian state of Assam. Moran is an important industrial town in India. It is a major oil field and a major tea-producing area.
Etymology
The name "Moran" is actually the shortened form o ...
, India to
Myitkyina
Myitkyina (, ; (Eng; ''mitchinar'') Jinghpaw: ''Myitkyina'', ) is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar (Burma), located from Yangon, and from Mandalay. In Burmese it means "near the big river", and Myitkyina is on the west bank of the ...
, Burma. He transferred to Warazup, Burma in January 1945. After serving in the
China Burma India Theater of World War II
China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including U.S. forces) in the CBI was officia ...
, flying 302 missions and earning 102 points, he was awarded several medals, and was demobilized in July of the same year as a
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment.
The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...
.
After the war, he worked as a geologist for
Shell Oil
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yor ...
domestically and
Standard Oil of New Jersey
ExxonMobil, an American multinational oil and gas corporation presently based out of Texas, has had one of the longest histories of any company in its industry. A direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the company traces its root ...
overseas. Passing the career
U.S. Foreign Service
The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...
exams, Funkhouser became a Regional Petroleum Officer for the Middle East, assigned to
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
in 1953 and then
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
,
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
, and
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. He served as
United States Ambassador to Gabon
This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Gabon.
Gabon had been an overseas territory of France since 1910. At that time it became part of French Equatorial Africa, which included Middle Congo (now Republic of the Congo), Chad, and O ...
from August 9, 1969, to August 2, 1970, and then served in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, appointed as civilian deputy to Lt. General Michael Davison at
Bien Hoa Air Base
Bien Hoa Air Base (Vietnamese: ''Sân bay Biên Hòa'') is a Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) military airfield located in South-Central southern Vietnam about from Ho Chi Minh City, across the Dong Nai river in the northern ward of Tân Phon ...
. He gained the military equivalent rank of Major General and received the
National Defense Service Medal
The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four sp ...
. Interviews conducted by Charles Stuart Kennedy, director of the Foreign Affairs Oral History Program, covering Funkhouser's work in Damascus, Moscow, Paris, Gabon, and Vietnam during the period of 1955–1972, are archived at
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
.
After 33 years serving in various
Foreign Service Specialist Foreign Service Specialists are direct-hire career employees of the United States Department of State and other foreign affairs agencies. They are members of the United States Foreign Service who provide important technical, support or administrati ...
positions, Funkhouser retired from the
Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
in 1975 and moved to Scotland as an International Affairs Advisor to the Texas Eastern Corporation. While there, he wrote several papers which today are deposited at the Oil and Gas Institute in the
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
. After five years in Scotland, he returned to Washington in 1980 and became the Director of International Affairs in the
Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
and a consultant to the
US Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...
before appointment to his final position as Director of International Activities at the Young Astronaut Council.
Personal life
Funkhouser dropped the middle initial "E." during World War II.
In early 1944, Funkhouser married Phyllis Parkin. They had three children, sons, Phillip Hayes Funkhouser (died 1961) and Bruce Bedford Funkhouser, and a daughter, Blaine Laskowski. He belonged to several clubs and organizations, including Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired, Metropolitan Club, Chevy Chase Club, the
Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...
, Royal and Ancient Golf Club, Prestwick Golf Club, and
Scottish Civic Trust
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
.
In the mid-1990s, Funkhouser and his wife survived a plane crash while on holiday in Europe. It had a lasting impact on the health of his wife, partially crippling her. She also began to suffer from
dementia
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
and gradually grew weaker and weaker. On May 15, 2008, Funkhouser shot his wife dead, before turning the gun on himself in the underground garage of their retirement home in Ingleside, Washington, D.C.