Wally Funk Who Was A Aviation Trailblazer Who Shattered Space’s Glass Ceiling at 82, Dies at 87
The fearless pilot who waited six decades for her shot at the stars – and became the oldest woman to ever reach them – has passed away in Texas.
GRAPEVINE, Texas — Wally Funk, the tenacious aviator whose lifelong dream of spaceflight wasn’t realized until she was 82 years old, died Wednesday at her apartment in this Dallas-Fort Worth suburb. She was 87.
Her death was confirmed by Duff O’Dell, a Grapevine city councilwoman who described herself as Funk’s caregiver and said she was by her side when she passed. Funk had suffered a series of recent falls and was battling an infection in her leg, which O’Dell said ultimately “took its toll”.
For anyone who knew her story, Funk’s passing marks the end of a life defined by defiance – a woman who was told “no” by men in power for most of her career, yet never stopped believing she belonged among the stars.
The Mercury 13: A Dream Deferred
Long before Jeff Bezos offered her a seat on his rocket, Funk was one of the “Mercury 13” – a group of 13 female pilots who, in the early 1960s, underwent the same rigorous physical and psychological testing as NASA’s all-male Mercury 7 astronaut corps.
She was the youngest of the group, just 21 years old when she volunteered. And she didn’t just pass the tests – she excelled, ranking among the program’s top performers.
But it didn’t matter. The program was never officially sanctioned by NASA. Astronauts like John Glenn dismissed the idea of women joining their ranks. And Funk, along with her fellow trailblazers, was left behind.
A Career of Firsts, Despite the Barriers
If the space agency wouldn’t have her, Funk simply found other ways to soar. Over the course of her remarkable career, she trained more than 3,000 pilots and logged over 30,000 hours of flight time.
She became the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. She also served as an airline transport pilot and an international aviation expert.
Born on February 1, 1939, Funk dedicated more than seven decades of her life to aviation. She graduated from Oklahoma State University, which offered what was widely considered the best pilot training program in the country at the time.
But space was always the ultimate prize – and she never gave up on it.
The Blue Origin Flight: A Dream Realized
In July 2021, that dream finally came true.
Funk was invited as an “honored guest” aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard rocket for the NS-16 mission. At 82 years old, she became the oldest woman ever to travel into space – a feat that earned her a Guinness World Record.
She flew alongside Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, and 18-year-old Dutch space tourist Oliver Daemen. The flight was a brief up-and-down hop from West Texas, but for Funk, it was the culmination of a lifetime of waiting.
At the time, she was also the oldest person overall to go into space – though that record was later broken later that same year by “Star Trek” actor William Shatner at age 90, and later still by Ed Dwight, America’s first Black astronaut candidate, also at 90.
In a post on X, Blue Origin called Funk a “pioneer in every sense of the word” and said the company was “humbled to be part of her journey”.
‘She Never Got Mad. She Just Was More Determined.’
Those who knew Funk best describe a woman of unshakable optimism – a quality that carried her through decades of rejection.
O’Dell, her caregiver and friend, 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 recalled. “And she never got mad about it. She just was more determined.”
That determination never wavered, even in her final years. Funk remained active in the Grapevine community, where she was beloved by neighbors and local officials alike. The City of Grapevine released a statement calling her a “beloved Grapevine resident whose extraordinary accomplishments and generous spirit left an enduring legacy”.
NASA Pays Tribute
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman posted a tribute to Funk on X, writing: “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.”
It was a fitting farewell from the agency that had once shut her out – a recognition, finally, of what she had always known she was capable of.
A Legacy That Soars
Funk’s journey from the Mercury 13 to the edge of space spans more than 60 years – a testament to the power of patience, persistence, and an unshakable belief in one’s own potential.
She didn’t just break barriers; she refused to acknowledge them. When the world told her she couldn’t fly, she flew higher. When NASA told her she couldn’t be an astronaut, she waited – and eventually, she found another way.
Her story is a reminder that some dreams are worth holding onto, no matter how long they take to come true. And for the generations of young women who will look up at the stars and wonder if they, too, could reach them, Wally Funk’s life stands as proof that the answer is always yes – even if it takes six decades to get there.
