Richard Oliver Funsch died peacefully at home on Tuesday, April 1 at the age of 92. Born in St. Louis, MO, he graduated from St. Louis Country Day School before going on to Princeton University as a member of the Class of 1955. At Princeton he majored in history and was a proud member of the University Cottage Club.
After graduation he attended Columbia University Law School for one year before returning to Washington University in St. Louis for his last two years of law school. After passing the Missouri Bar, he entered the US Air Force as a judge advocate and spent 34 months at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.
Following his service, he returned to St. Louis where he practiced law. In 1972 Richard ran for U.S. Congress, Missouri 1st Congressional District, against the veteran incumbent Bill Clay and lost. He enjoyed showing friends the scrapbook he put together from that unsuccessful run. In 1980 he started his own firm consisting of five lawyers with a primary focus on civil litigation. He was so enthusiastic about his trial work that he could recall details many years later, including just before he died, and recount stories about some of his favorite adversaries, including the famed Marvin Belli.
In 1983 his life took a dramatic change when he lost 96 percent of his eyesight within 24 hours due to an unidentified virus. This changed the way he practiced law, but he soldiered on for the next 10 years with the help of a reader. After retirement he volunteered for 13 years with the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) in St. Louis and later in Princeton.
In 1988 he married Mary Sutter whom he had known in St. Louis for 20 years through Princeton connections. Looking for new challenges they moved to Princeton in 1996. Richard often said that his return to Princeton fortified his belief that it was the “best old place of all.” In Princeton he enjoyed auditing classes without the necessity of taking notes or the stress of exams. Until his eyesight was completely gone, he would regularly walk the streets of Princeton from the YMCA, where he exercised, to his home. Never one to pity himself for his lack of eyesight, he was always looking to learn and often regaled friends with his lawyer “war stories.”
In addition to his wife Mary, he is survived by his children Randolph Funsch, Ted Funsch, and Cynthia Funsch-Sena and his stepchildren John H. Sutter, Mary Beth Womer (John), and Sarah Sutter Glazar (Christian). His grandchildren include Elizabeth and William Sutter, Molly Womer, Margaret and Ethan Glazar, and Felicia and Thomas Funsch.
Memorial contributions may be made to “Cottage 1886 Foundation” c/o University Cottage Club, 51 Prospect Avenue, Princeton, NJ 08540.
A memorial service will be held at Trinity Church on Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 11 a.m.
Arrangements are under the direction of Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
