Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk II was born on Feb. 1, 1939, in Las Vegas, New Mexico, to Virginia Shy Funk and Lozier Funk. Wally passed away peacefully at her home in Grapevine, Texas, on July 8, 2026, at the age of 87. She grew up in Taos, New Mexico, and loved (and was inspired by) the Taos mountains. Her love of aviation began at the age of three when she took a flight with her parents and was found inspecting the nose gear before the flight. She took her first flying lesson in 1948 when she was nine years old. At age 16, she attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri because they had a flying curriculum. She joined the “flying Susies” and earned her Associate of Arts degree and her pilot’s license in 1958. She later completed her education at Oklahoma State University, where she flew with the “Flying Aggies.”

Wally traveled all over the world and loved adventure and meeting people. Her personal motto was “You can do whatever you want to do,” and she lived that motto throughout her amazing aviation career that spanned over 78 years.

In 1961, Wally was selected as one of the elite women in the groundbreaking Mercury 13 (First Lady Astronaut Trainees) program, where she successfully completed the same rigorous physical and psychological testing administered to NASA’s Mercury 7 astronauts. She ranked among the program’s top performers and outscored many of her male counterparts on several tests. Despite her qualifications, women were not permitted to become NASA astronauts at the time. Wally refused to let those barriers define her career. Instead, she forged an extraordinary path through aviation, becoming:

• The first female flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

• The first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

• The first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

• A flight instructor who has trained more than 3,000 pilots and logged more than 30,000 hours of flight time.

• An airline transport pilot, flight examiner, aviation educator and internationally respected aviation safety expert.

On July 20, 2021, her lifelong dream finally became reality when she launched aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-16 mission with Jeff Bezos and fellow crew members. At age 82, she became the oldest woman ever to travel to space, earning a Guinness World Record and becoming the only member of the Mercury 13 to reach space. Throughout her remarkable career, she received numerous honors, including:

• Induction into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame (2024).

• Induction into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame.

• Induction into the Mercury 13 Hall of Fame.

• Guinness World Record as the oldest woman in space.

• Stephens College Alumna Achievement Award, becoming the youngest woman to receive the honor.

• Oklahoma State University’s Outstanding Female Pilot Trophy.

• Flying Aggie Top Pilot Award.

• Two consecutive Alfred Alder Memorial Trophy awards.

• Recognition as one of the Outstanding Young Women of America.

• Honorary Colonel of Louisiana.

• Will be posthumously inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame at the New Mexico Museum of Space History.

Her flying career and many accomplishments are legendary, but her participation in the Mercury 13 women’s astronaut training program and fulfilling her lifelong desire to go into space at age 82 on the first Blue Origin flight in 2021 are what most people will remember about this extraordinary woman. She was truly one of a kind and was loved and admired by thousands of people. Her passing was recognized and grieved around the globe. She is survived by countless friends and colleagues who will miss her dearly.

A celebration of life honoring her life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on September 1, 2026, at Whites Chapel Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas. The service will also be live streamed. Per her wishes, her ashes will be spread over her beloved Taos mountain range and in The Portal of the Folded Wings in Valhalla Cemetery in Burbank, California. Godspeed, Wally.