Vance Anderson Funk III (born December 16, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician from

Newark, Delaware Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 31,454. The University of Delaware is ...

. He was the mayor of Newark from 2005 until he retired in 2013.Vance Funk does appear as Spiderman from time to time in a variety of Newark area parades.

Early life

Funk was born December 16, 1942, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He earned a BS in business administration from the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

in 1965 and received a JD from the

Washington and Lee University School of Law The Washington and Lee University School of Law (W&L Law) is the law school of Washington and Lee University, a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia. It is accredited by the American Bar Association. Facilities are on the histo ...

in 1968. He was a lieutenant in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

and served a year in the 519th MP Battalion during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Career

Funk became a real estate agent after graduating from law school. In 1972, he became alderman for the city of Newark, a position he held until 1986. He opened a law firm in 1975, and returned to private practice in 2000. He retired from his firm in 2017, turning it over to his son. In 2004, Funk was elected mayor of Newark, defeating

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Harold Godwin with 74 percent of the vote. He was reelected three times. He was a member of the

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition Everytown for Gun Safety is an American non-profit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was formed in 2013 due to a merger between ''Mayors Against Illegal Guns'' and ''Moms Demand Action for Gun Sens ...

that was formed in 2006. On August 8, 2013, Funk announced his resignation as mayor, citing health concerns brought on by stress from community opposition to the construction of a Wawa convenience store and gas pumps near his neighborhood. Funk supported the proposal while many of his neighbors had organized a grassroots campaign against it. Several days later, he announced he was moving his date of resignation forward three months to September 30.

References

1942 births Living people Mayors of places in Delaware People from Newark, Delaware Delaware lawyers Politicians from Philadelphia Military personnel from Philadelphia University of Delaware alumni Washington and Lee University School of Law alumni {{Delaware-politician-stub