Tom Funk (illustrator)

Tom Funk
Born
Merton Thompson Funk

(1911-07-18)July 18, 1911
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 9, 2003(2003-10-09) (aged 92)
Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S.
OccupationIllustrator
SpouseEdna Eicke
RelativesCharles Earle Funk (uncle)
Isaac K. Funk (great-uncle)

Tom Funk (July 18, 1911 – October 9, 2003), born Merton Thompson Funk, was an illustrator who for some 40 years was associated with the distinctive visual style of the New Yorker magazine.

Biography

Funk was born in Brooklyn, the son of Merton Layton Funk and Marion Anna Thompson Funk. His father was a doctor; his uncle, Charles Earle Funk, was editor of the Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary and other publications. Another uncle, J. Arthur Funk, was a Presbyterian medical missionary in Iran. Isaac K. Funk and Wilfred J. Funk were also close relatives. He graduated from Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, and attended Amherst College.

Funk contributed ‘spots’ to the New Yorker magazine for forty years, depicting New York buildings, portraits for profiles of subjects ranging from Pablo Picasso to D. T. Suzuki, and a distinctive style of cartography, as well as general illustrations in the years before the magazine introduced editorial photographs, in the 1990s. His work also appeared in Dramatists Guild Quarterly, Harper's, Woman's Day, Gourmet, House & Garden and Life, and he illustrated books and activity kits for children, as well as textbooks and many cookbooks.

Funk married Alice Cecelie Owre in 1939. They divorced in 1940. In 1943 he married the New Yorker cover illustrator Edna Eicke, who died in 1979. He was survived by three children when he died in 2003, in Norwalk, Connecticut, at the age of 92.

Publications

As author

As illustrator

References

  1. ↑ "Mrs. Benjamin Funk; Publisher's Widow Was Mother of Dictionary Editor". The New York Times. November 20, 1939. p. 19. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
  2. 1 2 3 Gross, Sarah Chokla (April 11, 1948). "A Whimsical Collection; A Hog on Ice, And Other Curious Expressions. By Charles Earle Funk (review)". The New York Times. p. 98. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
  3. ↑ "Dr J. Arthur Funk, Medical Missionary; Presbyterian, Head of Hospital in Iran 36 Years, Dies". The New York Times. March 8, 1939. p. 27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
  4. ↑ "B. F. Funk Stricken, Dies in Gymnasium; Heart Disease Kills the Publisher as it Did His Noted Brother". The New York Times. February 3, 1914. p. 11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
  5. 1 2 "Obituary: Tom Funk". Westport News. 2003-10-15. p. 8. Retrieved 2026-08-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Owre--Funk". The New York Times. March 12, 1939. p. 48. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
  7. ↑ "Court Actions". Nevada State Journal. 1940-08-15. p. 7. Retrieved 2026-08-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "People and happenings: Funk exhibit". The News-Times. 1973-12-20. p. 51. Retrieved 2026-08-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "For Younger Readers; Awards". The New York Times. March 18, 1962. p. 299. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
  10. ↑ E. L. B. (March 15, 1953). "Kangaroo Tour; Mrs. Roo and the Bunnies, by Rachel Learnard. Illustrated by Tom Funk (review)". The New York Times. p. 141. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
  11. ↑ Fenner, Phyllis (July 11, 1954). "Clear the Track; Let's Build a Railroad, by Ruth Crawford Seeger. Illustrated by Tom Funk (review)". The New York Times. p. 100. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
  12. ↑ Duffus, R. L. (October 9, 1960). "Some Places to Long Remember; A Quota of Seaweed. Persons and Places in Brazil, Spain, Honduras, Jamaica, Tahiti and Samoa. By Hamilton Basso. Drawings by Tom Funk (review)". The New York Times. p. 179. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
  13. ↑ Mitgang, Herbert (November 10, 1986). "Books: Plains Geology (review)". The New York Times. p. 58. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-07.