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User:Transparent Eye/John W. Funkhouser

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John William Funkhouser PhD. was born 28th August 1926 in Beaverdam, VA and was murdered at his home, at the age of 48, on 3rd December 1974, in Chester, VA. John was buried next to both of his parents in Woodland Cemetery, in Hanover County, VA. Throughout his life Dr. John W. Funkhouser was professionally interested in speleology, herpetology and geology. In his scientific research endeavors he easily transitioned among these disciplines. His amphibian research focused upon a species' traits and niche requirements in an attempt to understand its biogeographical patterns and range distribution. His fossil pollen research focused upon preparation techniques necessary for mounting samples and emending the classification of the extinct pollen Aquilapollenites. His scientific contributions spanned two developing disciplines that emerged during the 1960’s: the field of ecology and the field of palynology. Beginning in 1968 John embarked on yet another career, teaching introductory geology courses at John Tyler Community College. It was at this time that he unearthed a geological fault at the North Anna Nuclear Generation Station on Lake Anna, Virginia. The discovery embroiled him in a legal battle with VEPCO.

Scientific institutions that house his photography collection and herpetological collections are the University of Illinois, [1] California Academy of Sciences, and Stanford University. [2] The Natural Museum of History, at the Smithsonian Institute, holds holotypes and paratypes of a collection of his micro-fossil pollen, Aquilapollenites, in its Paleobiology collection.

Dr. Funkhouser was also a prolific life-long stamp collector, nature photographer and gem collector.

Parents and Youth

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John's father, Joseph Alfred Funkhouser, was born 18th August 1899 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Joseph was a 1924 graduate of Randolph Macon College. Interested in a teaching career he subsequently enrolled at William & Mary College and completed a math education curriculum in 1932. HHe was employed by Richmond Public School System and taught geometry and math at John Marshall High School in Richmond, VA from the 1940s to the 1960s. John was a student at John Marshall during his father’s employment. Joseph died 17th November 1966 in Montpelier, VA. John's mother, Mary Gordon Redd (1903-1983) was an accomplished pianist and played regularly at Beaverdam Baptist Church. Both his parents are buried in Woodland Cemetery, Hanover County, VA. John is buried next to them.

John Marshall High School

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While a student at John Marshall High School in Richmond, Virginian John held the position of Assistant Editor of The Record, was a member of the Quill and Scroll, and was a member of the Honor Society. In his freshman year he earned a 98.4 grade point average, the third highest in his class. [3] His competitive nature was felt not only scholarly but in other endeavors as well. He out sold all the other home rooms in a contest to sell war bonds. [4] When he graduated, in June 1943, he held the second highest average for his class. For his efforts he won a science medal and a scholarship to Washington and Lee University.

Washington and Lee University (1944 to 1948)

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John was tapped to be a member of the two honorary societies, Tau Kappa Iota, the biology fraternity, and the honor society, Phi Beta Kappa. In his freshman year he pledged Phi Eta Sigma and remained a member during his four years at W&L. He was very involved in the Caving Club, Glee Club, and Camera Club. [5]

During these years John became acquainted with Col. Robert P. "Doc" Carroll, professor of biology at Virginia Military Institute and Dr. M. H. Stow, geology professor of W&L. After John had graduated these two professors would be the founding leaders of the Virginia Region of the National Speleological Society (NSS) and act as advisors to those interested in Virginia caves.

[6]

With their encouragement John surveyed and drafted a detailed description with floor plan of Marshall’s Cave, in Highland County, Virginia. He filed his report with the NSS in 1948. The report was included in Henry H. Douglas’s 1964 book, “Caves of Virginia”.

At his graduation, in 1948, he was graduated magna cum laude and received the Robinson Science award and two scholarships. The first scholarship allowed him to study for the summer at the Mountain Lake Biological Station, an offsite research institution of the University of Virginia, and the second scholarship was the Atomic Research Fellowship Award at Stanford University.

Mountain Lake Biological Station (summer 1948)

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Having won a scholarship from the University of Virginia John studied at their Mountain Lake Biological Station during the summer of 1948.

Stanford University (1948-1949)

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John W. Funkhouser began his herpetological ecology studies at Stanford University in 1948 and received his PhD in the biological sciences in 1951. His dissertation was titled, Studies on the ecology of the frogs of Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Ecuador, with a general account of the ecology of the region.

Even as he worked on his dissertation he was still active with speleological exploration in the California region. In collaboration with Robert J. Hackman, another former Virginian caver, the two founded the Stanford Grotto. [7]

Naturalist/Ranger at Crater Lake (Summer 1949)

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At the beginning of the summer of 1949 John traveled to Oregon having obtained employment at Crater Lake National Park, as a Ranger-Naturalist. There he took on the duties of being a park ranger and undertook a study of the local ecology. The park published his research with the title, “Adventures with Park Amphibians, Nature Notes from Crater Lake.” [8]

When he returned to his home in Richmond he stopped by his former higher school and gave an account of his adventure to the school’s newspaper. [9]


Life at Stanford (1950-1951)

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Spouse: Anne Black Funkhouser born: 10th Oct 1929. Daughter of William Madison Black and Susie Pearl Bundick. Anne earned both her M.A. and her PhD. in biology at Stanford, specializing in amphibian.


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According to the U.S. National Archive and Records Administration John was a member of the Navy Reserve, serial number 2652760. He is listed as having Spanish language proficiency sufficient for research and a geographic knowledge of the South American region of Ecuador, Peru gained between January 1, 1950 and December 31, 1952. [10] John enlisted in the spring of 1945 and traveled to Great Lakes, Illinois for basic training. [11]

John Tyler Community College

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Dr. John Funkhouser not only taught geology courses at John Tyler Community College he also served as a student advisor and was on the Student Government Association. [12] and maintained a close liaison with the four-year colleges, especially Washington and Lee and William and Mary, thereby helping his students gain admission to higher education institutions. [13]

Geological Fault at North Anna Nuclear Generating Site (1970-1974)

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Beginning in 1973 Hal Willard, correspondent for The Washington Post, began reporting on the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) investigation of whether the Virginia Electric and Power Co. (VEPCO) withheld information about a geological fault beneath its nuclear power plant under construction on the North Anna River in Louisa County, VA. By the time Hal Willard ended his coverage of the story, in 1980, he had written 35 articles. Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).[14] [15]


Death

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On 3rd December 1974, John Funkhouser was fatally shot with a 22-caliber rifle in his Chester apartment. Ray William Cook Jr., an unemployed electrician and a former student of Funkhouser’s, was arrested for his murder after holding up a nearby 7-11 later that same day. Cook was convicted and sentenced for 1st degree murder. Cook was born on 18th August 1951 and died on 18th September 2012. He was buried in Westhampton Memorial cemetery, Richmond, VA.


PUBLICATIONS

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  • Funkhouser, J.W. Ranger-Naturalist, “Adventures with Park Amphibians, Nature Notes from Crater Lake”, Vol. 15, No. 1, September, 1949.
  • Myers, G.S. and Funkhouser, J.W. (1951) A New Giant Toad from Southwestern Colombia. Zoologica. New York, 36: 279–282. Summary: Bufo blombergi; Holotype: CAS-SU 10419, by original designation. Type locality: "Nachao, Nariño Province, southwestern Colombia, at an altitude of about 550 meters".
  • Funkhouser, J.W. (1956). New frogs from Ecuador and southwestern Colombia. Zoologica. New York 41: 73–80. (charcoal drawing by Anne B. Funkhouser) In the course of collecting in Ecuador in Colorados, Province of Pichicha, in Oct 1950, several frogs were collected and described by John W. Funkhouser.
  • Funkhouser, J.W. National Speleological Society, NSS News Stanford Grotto Collects Cave Salamanders. Vol. 7, Issue 9, 1949.
  • Funkhouser, J.W. National Speleological Society, NSS News 'Soil Caves' in Tropical Ecuador, Vol. 9 (4-12) (1951) 5:4
  • Funkhouser, J.W. Bulletin of the National Speleological Society, ISSN 0146-9517. The Cave Salamanders of California, No. 13: 46-49. December 1951.
  • Funkhouser, J. W. (1969) Factors that affect sample reliability pp 97-102 in R. H. Tschudy and R.A. Scott, (editors). Aspects of Palynology, New York: Wiley & Sons
  • Funkhouser, J. W. Pollen of the Genus Aquilapollenites. Micropaleontology Vol. 7, No. 2 (Apr., 1961), pp. 193-198. Published by: The Micropaleontology Project, Inc. DOI: 10.2307/1484278.
  • Funkhouser, John W. and Evitt, William Robert. Preparation techniques for acid-insoluble microfossils Micropaleontology, July 1959, v. 5, p. 369-375.

Several techniques useful in the preparation of spores, pollen, hystrichospherids, and similar acid-insoluble microfossils are described. These include oxidation treatments to remove unwanted organic matter; 4 aids in the mechanical separation of organic and mineral matter; and 2 methods for making permanent slides using cover-glass smears. A feature of all of these techniques is that the residues are retained in a water-base medium throughout processing.

  • Funkhouser, J.W. “Geology in the community college (abs.)” Virginia Journal of Science, vol. 21, No.3, p. 133, 1970.
  • Funkhouser, J.W. “Interbedded geisses and sandstones in Louisa County, Virginia.” Virginia Journal of Science, vol.24, no.3, p.159, 1973.

References

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  1. ^ Herpetological Type-Specimens in the University of Illinois Museum of Natural History.
  2. ^ John William Funkhouser photographic slides (PC0160). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif. Call Number: PC0160 Dates: 1949-1953 Physical Description: 0.25 linear feet (107 slides in 1 box) Scope and Contents: Photographic slides of Stanford campus scenes, a herpetology field trip, the San Francisco Peninsula, and the California Coast.
  3. ^ The Monocole, Volume 14, Number 8, 17 January 1941 Last report period 105 John Marshall students made honor roll. Top three were: Virginia Kanick Leads with 99.0, Kermit McKenzie has 98.5; John Funkhouser gets 98.4
  4. ^ The Monocole, Volume 15, Number 15, 29 May 1942 With John Funkhouser purchasing a $4,000 bond for his grandfather, room 114 soared way ahead of all the other homerooms to lead the sale of war stamps and bonds for the last week of sales before the summer vacation.
  5. ^ The Calyx, Washington and Lee Yearbook 1947 and 1948
  6. ^ They invited Colonel Robert P. Carroll of VMI to start the ball rolling and to set an example by forming the Virginia region. The first meeting was held on March, 3, 1950 and the second meeting on April 29, 1950. See Ann b. Whittemore. “Origin of the Virginia region of the NSS, page 10 of The Journal of Spelean History. Official Publication of the American Spelean History Association. Special Convention Issue. “A Symposium on the History of American Caving.” Vol.13 No.1 & 2. January–June 1979. Published by the National Speleological Society.
  7. ^ The Stanford Grotto was started in November 1948 by John W. Funkhouser and Robert J. Hackman, two former Virginia cavers, who now attend Stanford University. Stanford Grotto accumulated much data about caves throughout California, especially in the Sierras, “The Mother Lode” and the “Shasta region”. The grotto rediscovered, “Soldiers Cave,” and “Palmer's Cave.” Many of their findings were published in the Monthly Report of the Stanford Grotto. They specialized in historical research, interviews, and scientific documentation. The grotto was active until about 1952 although it was not formally dissolved by the NSS until 1954. The Journal of Spelean History. Official Publication of the American Spelean History Association. Special Convention Issue. “A Symposium on the History of American Caving.” Vol.13 No.1 & 2. January–June 1979. Published by the National Speleological Society. Retrieved 8/7/14 from the website: http://caves.org/section/asha/issues/041.pdf
  8. ^ John W. Funkhouser, Ranger-Naturalist, “Adventures with Park Amphibians, Nature Notes from Crater Lake”, Vol. 15, No. 1, September, 1949.
  9. ^ The Monocole, Volume 21, Number 11, 30 March 1950. Published bi-weekly during the school year by the students of John Marshall High School, Richmond, VA. Printed by the Dietz Printing Company.
  10. ^ U.S. National Archive and Records Administration
  11. ^ The Monocle, Volume 18, Number 10, 8 March 1945
  12. ^ John Tyler Community College Annual Report, 1973-74 lists two duties for John Funkhouser. (1) S.G.A. Speaker- Dr. Funkhouser (2). Geology - A close liaison is maintained with the four-year colleges, especially Washington and Lee and William and May. There is close cooperation in lectures, seminars and field trips. Dr. John Funkhouser has given several lectures on Geology and the environment to public schools, clubs and other organizations. He serves as Chairman of the Geology Section of the Virginia Academy of Science.
  13. ^ Testimonial from Dr. Don O' Donohue, an early John Tyler student, now Assistant Dean for Nursing and Allied Health at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. “I originally planned to transfer to Washington and Lee on a full scholarship, but then the Kent State Riots happened. Washington and Lee protested, and once again, my funding was withdrawn. [O'Donohue originally lost funding due to University of Richmond’s failure to integrate.] I stopped by John Tyler and told my advisor, Dr. John Funkhouser, what happened, and he asked me if I'd considered William & Mary. That was the first week of August, and I told him I thought there was no way I'd get into William & Mary, especially at that late date. But, he told me he wasn't so sure, so he put me in his car and drove me to William & Mary. When we got there, he talked to the director of admissions, and I talked to the head of the geology department. Then we switched. I remember waiting in a chair in the admissions office, and pretty soon the director came out with my admission paperwork and some funding sources. That was typical of the faculty then, and I think it is still typical of community college faculty members today. They go out of their way to help you get where you want to go. I went back to my advisor years later and thanked him for all he did for me. I told him I felt like there was no way I could ever really repay him, and he said, 'The only thing I did for you was open doors, and if you want to repay me, then open doors for other people.' I guess that's why I work in the community college system today." Retrieved 8/7/14 from JTTC‘s website celebrating 40th year anniversary.
  14. ^ Washington Post, February 6, 1975, “Legalities Swirl Over Nuclear Plant: What Was in Deleted Deposition?" Hal Willard, F1. Article discusses Dr. John W. Funkhouser role in the discovery of the geologic fault beneath North Anna Nuclear Power Station site.
  15. ^ Washington Post, February 20, 1975, “Geologist's Drinking Habits Unearthed," Hal Willard, F1. Article discusses the drinking habits of the murdered Funkhouser which are brought up in the hearings to determine whether VEPCO officials made false or misleading statements to the NRC.
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