The Associated Press reports that aviation pioneer and longtime Grapevine resident Wally Funk died July 8 at age 87.
Funk participated in the Mercury 13 testing program, an important chapter in the career that eventually took her beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Six decades later, she flew aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard in 2021. She was 82 at the time of that flight.
Those two milestones defined Funk’s remarkable path through aviation: testing for the Mercury 13 program and later making the trip to space aboard New Shepard. Her death closes a life closely associated with flight and space travel, while her longtime residence gave North Texas a local connection to that history.
The AP’s obituary recounts Funk’s participation in Mercury 13 and her 2021 spaceflight, along with the report of her death. Funk was 87.
