Peter K. Funk
Among the business men of the Hanging Rock and Calumet Region who are winning success through individual effort and are contributing to the industrial development of this prosperous section of Ohio, Peter K. Funk, superintendent of the lasting department of the Excelsior Shoe Company, is deserving of mention. His entire business career has been passed with the company with which he is now identified, and his present position has been gained by steadfast and conscientious effort, as he entered its employ at the bottom of the ladder.
Mr. Funk was born at Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio, September 29, 1876. and is a son of Theodore K. and Emma Dora (King) Funk. His father was born at Arabia, Lawrence County, Ohio, in 1848, and as a young man adopted the profession of law, in which he is still engaged at Portsmouth. He is well and favorably known among the lawyers of Scioto County, and has served two terms as prosecuting attorney. Mrs. Funk was born at Portsmouth in 1856 and has been the mother of six children: Peter K., Elizabeth, Ada B., Laura B., Sarah and .lames W., of whom Sarah is now deceased.
Peter K. Funk went to the public schools of Portsmouth until he had completed the Fourth Grade, and then became a student in the county schools under Professor Lowe. It was his youthful intention to adopt his father's calling, and at the age of nineteen years he began to read law under the preceptorship of the elder man, but after two years the Spanish-American War came on and Mr. Funk enlisted in Company H, Fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which be saw active service in Porto Rico for two months. Enlisting as a private, he won promotion through brave and faithful service, and was honorably discharged as lieutenant of his company. On his return from his military service Mr. Funk entered the Portsmouth plant of the Excelsior Shoe Company as a laborer, but his recognized abilities and industrious labor won him advancement, and in 1906 he was made superintendent of the lasting department of the plant at Ironton, a position he has continued to capably fill to the present time. He enjoys the utmost confidence of the officials of the company and has the respect and regard of the men in his department.
Mr. Funk was married October 26, 1900. at the home of the bride at Portsmouth, to Miss Mae Dora Williamson, daughter of Capt. William and Mary (Hunt) Williamson. They are consistent members of the Episcopal Church and reside at No. 126 Etna street, Ironton, while Mr. Funk also owns a residence at Portsmouth. He spends a great deal of his leisure time in reading and in studying machinery, although he is also fond of outdoor sports, notably fishing and hunting. Mr. Funk is a republican and a member of the Independent Order of Foresters and of the Spanish-American War Veterans. Mrs. Funk was born at Red River. Arkansas, where her parents died when she was a child, and she was adopted by Capt. and Mrs. Williamson.
From "A Standing History of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio" by Eugene B. Willard, Daniel W. Williams, George O. Newman and Charles B. Taylor. Published by Lewis Publishing Company, 1916