Wally Funk obit

Historic aviator Wally Funk dies at the age of 87

Funk was the oldest person to travel to space in 2021 and was the last surviving member of the Mercury 13.

 She was not on the list.

Aviation trailblazer Wally Funk, who lived in Grapevine and was the oldest woman to launch into space, has died, according to the city.

Funk died Wednesday at her apartment in an assisted living facility in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, according to City Councilwoman Duff O'Dell, who described herself as Funk's caregiver. O'Dell said she was by Funk's side and that Funk had fallen a couple of times recently and had an infection in her leg.

“It took its toll,” O'Dell said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

In 2021, Funk was celebrated by the city of Grapevine for her historic spaceflight aboard a Blue Origin New Shepherd rocket. The mission was six decades in the making, as Funk, known as a pioneer for women in aviation and spaceflight, underwent a series of tests as part of NASA’s first human spaceflight program, “Project Mercury,” in the 1960s.

Funk was one of 13 women selected to undergo the tests, known as the “Mercury 13." Though it is commonly held that the group of women qualified to fly in space but were excluded because of their gender, Funk was adamant she was not selected because she did not have an engineering degree.

“Wally Funk never stopped believing that one day she would reach space. Her passion for flight, perseverance, and love of exploration will continue to inspire generations of Americans. Godspeed, Wally,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman posted Thursday on X.

O’Dell said Funk was the “most eternally optimistic person” she had ever met.

“She was told by many, many, many men, ‘No, you can’t do this. No, you can’t do that,” O’Dell said. “And she never got mad about it. She just was more determined.”

For 60 years, Funk has been a member of the Ninety-Nines group. The international organization includes licensed female pilots from 44 countries.

At the age of 22, Funk already had the resume of lifetime achievements. She earned top aviation ratings in college, was a professional certified pilot, and became the first female civilian flight instructor at a U.S. military base — all at a time when women were systematically barred from many parts of life.

For Funk, all of it was in service of fulfilling one mission: becoming one of the first female astronauts. In 1961, the aviation whiz caught a break when, despite being under the required age of 24, she became the youngest of the so-called Mercury 13 women, who underwent testing to demonstrate that women could qualify for NASA's astronaut corps.

But because she was a woman, Funk's dreams of flying into space never came to fruition.

Until 60 years later on July 20, 2021.

Funk, no stranger to breaking records, made history as the oldest astronaut when she emerged from the Blue Origin New Shepherd capsule after landing in the West Texas desert, with a big grin and arms opened wide. A look of pure elation spread across her face.

Indeed, Funk excelled across the board in every test she was given while participating in NASA's 1961 Women In Space Program — sometimes even surpassing the men selected for the counter-astronaut program at the time. During one test, Funk was placed in a sensory deprivation tank where she remained for more than 10 hours before the researchers finally brought her out because they wanted to go home.

With more than 19,600 flying hours under her belt, Funk also likely has more time in the air than the three crewmen who joined her in space combined. She’s taught 3,000 students to fly.

Funk was born in New Mexico in 1939 and grew up in Taos. She never married, famously saying she was "married to airplanes." In 2024, three years after her trip to space, Funk was inducted into the Lone Star Flight Museum Hall of Fame.