Aviation pioneer Wally Funk, renowned for her decades-long battle to break gender barriers in flight and space exploration, has died at the age of 87. The city of Grapevine, Texas, confirmed that Funk passed away peacefully on the evening of July 8, 2026, surrounded by loved ones.
Born on February 1, 1939, Funk dedicated over 70 years to aviation. She rose to prominence in 1961 as a member of the Mercury 13 program, also known as the First Lady Astronaut Trainees. Despite outperforming many male counterparts during rigorous physical and psychological testing, she was denied the opportunity to become a NASA astronaut due to the gender restrictions of the era.
Funk nonetheless forged a historic career. She became the first female flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Throughout her career, she trained over 3,000 pilots and logged more than 30,000 flight hours.
Her lifelong ambition to reach space was realized in July 2021 when, at age 82, she joined Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-16 mission. That flight made her the oldest woman to travel to space—a Guinness World Record—and the only member of the original Mercury 13 program to reach orbit.
Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O’Dell praised Funk’s legacy, stating, “Wally Funk’s unwavering determination proves that dreams have no expiration date.” Funk’s contributions have been recognized by numerous institutions, including the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame and the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame. She is set to be posthumously inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame at the New Mexico Museum of Space History.