By Daily Press staff
DOWNTOWN Two longtime Santa Monica residents are giving back in a big way, donating $100,000 to the Santa Monica Historical Society to aid in the planned relocation of their museum to a new 5,000-square-foot facility at the Main Library later this year.
Ann Funk, who played a key role in the early stages of the society, and her husband, Ron Funk, a former managing editor of the Evening Outlook, were looking to do their part in helping the museum properly preserve its collection for future generations.
Thus far, the capital campaign launched in late 2006 has raised $600,000, according to Louise Gabriel, president and chief executive officer of the museum.
“The Funks have been personal friends for many years, as well as friends of the museum since the Historical Society’s founding in 1975,” Gabriel said. “Their continuous support throughout the years has helped us tremendously, and it will be forever remembered and appreciated.”
In awarding the donation, Ron Funk praised the society’s work preserving the city’s colorful history and culture.
“I believe that the only way to know the heart and soul of a town or city is through its history, without which it cannot be understood and appreciated,” he said in a prepared statement released by the museum.“The only way its history can be known is to gather and preserve the records of how its people lived, of who contributed significantly and of what they accomplished, of realized and unrealized goals, and of the external forces that helped shape it.
“The Santa Monica Historical Society Museum is doing an extraordinary job of compiling and preserving the history of the Santa Monica Bay area.”
Ron Funk began his career in the newspaper business working for the Associated Press. In 1956, after having served for five years in the AP’s Hawaii, San Francisco and Los Angeles bureaus, he joined United Western Newspapers, a family-owned company which, at that time, published the daily Evening Outlook and the weekly West Los Angeles Independent.
After writing and serving in management positions for both papers, he was named managing editor of the Evening Outlook and, a decade later, was appointed managing editor of the paper in 1970. He remained as editor until 1980, at which time he retired.
During Funk’s tenure with the Evening Outlook, he oversaw the publication of a special centennial edition celebrating Santa Monica’s 100th anniversary. The 128-page edition, published in 1975, reinforced his love for and pride in Santa Monica.As the paper itself heralded, it was the single largest and most complete history of the Santa Monica Bay area ever compiled, including more than 100 staff-written articles and 200 rare and unpublished photographs.
He didn’t do it alone. Ann Funk, a local historian who was born and raised in Santa Monica, assisted her husband in gathering historical documents and images for the special edition,and orchestrated many of the festivities that were held in honor of the city’s anniversary. In September 1975, as founding chairper-son, she called the first meeting of what soon became officially known as the Santa Monica Historical Society and continued to play a key role in its early development, according to museum officials.
The museum is appealing to the city’s residents and business owners for support, as well as others who at one time may have lived or worked in Santa Monica. Leading the museum’s fund-raising efforts are Jean McNeil Wyner, chairperson of the SMHSM board, and Bob Gabriel, chairman of the museum’s permanent home committee.
The museum’s board of directors also has established a donors’circle honoring contributors who will receive special recognition on the “Wall of Legacy,” a permanent fixture in the new museum. For more information, the public can visit www.santamonicahistory.org.
The Santa Monica Historical Society Museum is a non-profit organization whose mission is to collect, preserve and make accessible the history, art and culture of the Santa Monica Bay Area. Through the advancement of historical information, educational programming and the preservation of its archival collections and historical objects, the museum aims to give residents a sense of roots, belonging and an appreciation for the unique qualities of their city, and to instill a sense of pride in the diverse, multi-cultural past of Santa Monica.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 10, 2007. Read the original PDF.