Donald Funk

Donald Gene Funk was born on Christmas Day, 1932, in Denton County, Texas but spent his adult life in California. Don entered his law enforcement career hoping to offer counseling and help to those who made mistakes. His public service included time as a prison guard at Tehachapi, a police officer with the Wasco and Bakersfield Police Departments and ultimately the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office. At the sheriff’s office, Don last served as a Sergeant in charge of a team police unit in Northern San Diego County with responsibility for providing law enforcement services to three communities spread over 450 miles. A friend of Don’s on the SDSO recalled, “When we worked nights in Vista, we would take a quick run around town, and if things were quiet, we would stop by his house and his wife would give us something sweet and a cup of coffee. Pleasant times. I enjoyed his stories about Wasco PD, and how their radio system consisted of the telephone operator turning on a red light on a tower on the highest hill in town, and that was their signal to go pick up a public phone and get the call from the operator. He thought those new Motorola radios with the five colored buttons were lightyears ahead of the Wasco PD system. He never talked much about Texas, where he was born. I do not know what brought him to California, as his folks remained in Texas, but he attended Santa Clara University and I believe he graduated in 1952. He was in the Marines for three years from 53-56.” After years of police service, in about 1978, the demons we all struggle with began to get the best of Don. He applied for a stress related medical retirement and, after its refusal, attempted suicide. His retirement was granted but the demons lived on. At that time, there was no department provided psychological counseling; there was no Copline with its team of retired police officers taking calls 24/7 helping active and former officers and their families deal with stress. There was no one to turn to for help combating the demons. Don moved the family to Kernville then Bakersfield, but the demons did not relent. Just prior to his youngest daughter’s 18th birthday, on April 11, 1981, Don and his sidearm terminated their relationship. Another good man gone, leaving behind a grieving widow and three daughters. Years of service and dedication lost in a heartbeat.