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BM2c Frank Francis Funk
Frank Francis Funk was eight when his parents died a few months apart in 1924.
He and a younger sister, Katherine, moved to St. Vincent orphanage in St. Louis. She died the next year at the age of five of endocarditis. Frank later lived at the Newsboys shelter for homeless boys, also in St. Louis.
Mr. Funk, born April 12, 1916, enlisted in the Navy in November 1936 and was a boatswain’s mate and petty officer second class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
His father, Henry Funk, a laborer, and mother, Rosina Bastian Funk, came to the United States from Hungary in 1905. Tragedy first struck the family in 1920 when a five-year-old daughter, Anna, died of tuberculosis. Henry died of a kidney condition in May 1924 and Rosina of heart and lung problems that October.
Their oldest child, Nick, was about 33 and living in St. Louis when Frank was killed.
Sources: the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Census; Missouri death certificates; Navy muster roll. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
NOTE: If you are a family member related to this crew member of the U.S.S. Arizona, or have additional information, pictures or documents to share about his life or service to our county please contact us through our FAMILY MEMBER SUBMISSION FORM.