Miss Annie Clemmer Funk

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Name: Miss Annie Clemmer Funk
Born: Sunday 12th April 1874
Age: 38 years
Last Residence: in Janjgir India
Occupation: Missionary
2nd Class passenger
First Embarked: Southampton on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 237671 , £13
Destination: Bally Pennsylvania United States
Died in the sinking.
Body Not Recovered

Miss Annie Clemmer Funk, 38, was born on 12 April 1874 in Bally, Pennsylvania. Her ancestors were Mennonite emigrants from Germany, who settled there in the late 1700s. Her father was deacon at the local Mennonite church for 25 years.

Miss Funk attended the State Normal School at West Chester, Pa. and the Mennonite Training School in Northfield, Mass. After her graduation she worked with the immigrants in the slums of Chattanooga, Tenn. and Paterson, N.J. She dreamt of being a missionary. This was realized in December 1906, when she was sent to India as the first female Mennonite missionary.

It was Janjgir, where she should live and work for the next years. In July 1907 she opened a one-room school for girls, where she initially taught 17 girls. She got closer to the people by learning Hindi. A telegram forced her in the end to return to Bally: "Come home at once. Mother very ill. Have purchased on two ships", Pater Shelly.

She left Janjgir by train to Bombay, boarded the Persian and disembarked at Marseille. The train and boat brought her to England and finally to Liverpool, where the Haverford carried her home to America. Because of the coal-strike the ship was laid off, so Thos. Cook & Sons offered her to change to the Titanic for "a few more gold pieces", as she wrote. She bought her second class ticket number 237671 for £13.

Miss Funk boarded the Titanic at Southampton. She enjoyed the first days by celebrating her 38th birthday. In the night of the sinking, she was asleep in her cabin, was woken by the stewards, dressed and went on deck. She was about to enter a lifeboat, when a woman came from behind, pushing her aside by calling: "My children, My children". The last seat was gone, Annie had to step back. She died in the sinking. Her body, if recovered, was never identified.

In memory of her, her school in India is now called "Annie Funk Memorial School". A memorial is erected at the Hereford Mennonite Church Cemetery in Pennsylvania. It's inscription reads:

ERECTED BY
THE EASTERN DISTRICT CONFERENCE
OF THE MENNONITE CHURCH
IN MEMORY OF
ANNIE C. FUNK
MISSIONARY IN INDIA 1906-1912
DAUGHTER OF
JAMES B. AND SUSAN FUNK
BORN APRIL 12, 1874. DIED APRIL 15, 1912
AGED 38 YEARS AND 3 DAYS.

SHE WAS COMING HOME ON HER FIRST FUR-
LOUGH, WHEN DEATH OVERTOOK HER IN THE
WRECK OF THE STEAMSHIP TITANIC OFF THE
COAST OF NEWFOUNDLAND.- HER LIFE WAS ONE OF SERVICE IN THE
SPIRIT OF THE MASTER-"NOT TO BE MINISTERED
UNTO BUT TO MINISTER.

References and Sources
Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912 (National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279]).
List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States Immigration Officer At Port of Arrival (Date: 18th-19th June 1912, Ship: Carpathia) - National Archives, NWCTB-85-T715-Vol. 4183.
Judith Geller (1998) Titanic: Women and Children First. Haynes. ISBN 1 85260 594 4
United States Senate (62nd Congress), Subcommittee Hearings of the Committee on Commerce, Titanic Disaster, Washington 1912.

Credits
Pat Cook, USA
Hermann Söldner, Germany

Related Articles and Documents

ANNIE CLEMMER FUNK  
WHEN YOU SEE 'TITANIC' ... REMEMBER ANNIE FUNK  
North American  (1912)  WOMAN MISSIONARY MAY BE AMONG LOST  
North American  (1912)  FEAR BOYERTOWN GIRL, MISSIONARY, WAS LOST  
Newark Evening News  (1912)  FORMER SECRETARY OF PATERSON Y. W. C. A. LOST  
Paterson Morning Call  (1912)  MISS FUNK ONE OF THE DEAD  
Newark Evening News  (1912)  MR. FUNK STILL HOPES SISTER MISSED TITANIC  
Paterson Morning Call  (1912)  BROTHER OF MISS FUNK STILL HOPES  
Paterson Morning Call  (1912)  MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR MISS FUNK  
Paterson Morning Call  (1912)  MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR MISS FUNK  
New York Times  (1914)  TABLET TO WOMAN LOST ON TITANIC  

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(2012) Annie Clemmer Funk Encyclopedia Titanica (ref: #416, accessed 4th February 2012 08:21:50 AM)
URL : http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/annie-clemmer-funk.html

 


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