Annette Cynthia Jones Funn
Martin Luther King, Jr. noticed her abilities to inspire local activism and as an organizational leader.
(1942 – 2016)
Annette Funn’s life proved that you don’t have to be a big fish to make a big impact. Born in Virgina, she attended Virginia State University (1964) and early on showed her leadership skills. She was selected by Martin Luther King, Jr. as a platoon leader for a Civil Rights march held in the area. Moving to Calvert County, Maryland in the late 1990’s, Funn was always an active participant in her community. Whether it was through church as a Sunday School teacher or the workplace as Senior Science Public Health Policy Advisor with the FDA. Before working with the FDA, she was a microbiologist with the Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center (SOSC). Funn spent the years 1966 and 1967 as a technician with the Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center. Founded a few years earlier, SOSC was responsible for cataloging, preserving, and distributing marine specimens for research worldwide. In September 1967, Funn joined an expedition of the Southeastern Pacific Biological Oceanographic Program (SEPBOP).
Annette believed that “To make a living, you earn. To make a life, you give.” And she did give, especially of her time and talents. Using her skills as an “organizer, motivator, strategist, visionary, teacher, writer and negotiator,” Funn made a difference in her world and workplace. At a time when women were not respected in the field of science (she was a microbiologist), she rose to prominence in the FDA eventually becoming the National Manager of the FDA’s fifty plus Advisory Committees for consumer members and Consumer Safety Officer and Supervisor.
In her community, she put her talents to work with many organizations, internationally, nationally, and locally, such as the League of Women Voters, Calvert County Commission for Women, Concerned Black Women of Calvert County, Gideons International Delmardic States Auxiliary, and the National Council of Negro Women’s Section in Prince George’s County.
She and her husband Malcolm were a true team and were named as a “Super Couple” by The Enterprise newspaper (Lexington Park, MD) in 2011 for their individual and team efforts at empowering people in Southern Maryland.
Additional Information
Calvert County Library, Inspiring African American Women of Calvert County, 2017.
ANNETTE FUNN Obituary (2016) – Washington, DC – The Washington Post (legacy.com)
Annette J. Funn Obituary Sewell Funeral Home, 2016. Obituary information for ANNETTE J. FUNN (sewellfuneralhome.com)
Introducing the #FunnList – Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Unbound (si.edu)
Virginia State University; A Magazine for Alumni and Friends, Summer 2011.
Buck, Laura, “Power Couples Work Together for Families, Communities”, The Enterprise, Lexington Park, MD, Oct. 4, 2011.
