The Photographer
“I’ve always had a strong passion to record by way of camera and film, not simply for the sake of taking pictures, but to capture something on film that translates the excitement of the time to my readership.”
Wallie V. Funk, quoted in Anacortes Magazine, August 16, 2012
Wallie Valentine Funk Jr., an “old school’ reporter, photographer and editorial writer, enjoyed a prolific career in journalism that spanned more than four decades. In partnership with John Webber, Funk co-owned, managed, edited, and published three independent newspapers: the Anacortes American, the Whidbey News-Times, and the South Whidbey Record. During his career, Funk traveled the world, documenting his experiences through tens of thousands of photographs and a substantial body of writings. Driven by a desire to provide an accurate record of history on film, his extraordinary collection of photographs offers a glimpse into the lives of both the famous and the ordinary, including six U.S. presidents, the Beatles’ and the Rolling Stones’ visits to Seattle, the 1970 capture of orcas in Whidbey Island’s Penn Cove, as well as more commonplace topics such as emotional military homecomings and community parades.
The grandson of German immigrants who settled in Anacortes, Washington in 1890, Funk remained a lifelong resident of Island and Skagit Counties, graduating from Anacortes High School in 1941. After serving in the military during World War II, Funk enrolled at the University of Washington where he majored in journalism. In 1950, Funk and John Webber purchased the Anacortes American newspaper. It was during this period that Wallie married his high school sweetheart, Mary Ann Ringwell (1926-2008), with whom he raised two sons, Mark (1955-) and Carl (1957-). After selling the Anacortes American in 1964, Funk and Webber purchased the Whidbey News-Times and the South Whidbey Record on Whidbey Island. They jointly owned, published, and operated these newspapers until 1989.
A dedicated civic leader, Funk’s professional and personal interests remained closely aligned throughout his career. He has served as the State President and National Director of the Washington State Newspaper Publishers Association, as a Representative for the Washington State Trade Delegations (China in 1980, the Middle East in 1983, and Thailand in 1985), and as a member of the Washington State Arts Commission, the Anacortes Community Theater, the Whidbey Playhouse, Skagit County Pioneer Association, the Museum of Northwest Art, and the Anacortes Museum.
Early in his career, Wallie V. Funk recognized the importance of preserving his photographs and personal papers and devoted much of his retirement to finding a “proper home” for over 100,000 unique negatives, slides and prints. Through support from the Anacortes Museum Foundation, future researchers are guaranteed ongoing access to his prolific body of work through collections held by Western Washington University, the Anacortes Museum and Island County Museum in Coupeville.
