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Updated on: July 9, 2026 / 6:44 PM CDT
/ CBS Texas
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Wally Funk, an aviation pioneer who became the oldest woman to travel to space, has died at 87. The city of Grapevine, Texas, where she lived, announced on Thursday that she died peacefully the evening before, surrounded by loved ones.Funk, who was born on Feb. 1, 1939, has been hailed as a barrier-breaker for women in the world of aviation and space exploration. The city said she had dedicated more than seven decades of her life to the skies, becoming one of the world's most accomplished female pilots."Wally Funk's unwavering determination proves that dreams have no expiration date," Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O'Dell said. "Her courage, resilience and groundbreaking achievements continue to inspire young people – especially girls – to pursue careers in science, aviation, and space exploration. Grapevine is honored to call Wally Funk one of our own."Grapevine is a suburb in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, located about 23 miles northwest of Dallas.The city notes that in 1961, Funk was picked as one of the elite women in the Mercury 13 program, also known as the First Lady Astronaut Trainees program. She successfully completed the same rigorous physical and psychological testing program administered to NASA's Mercury 7 astronauts, and she ranked among the program's top performers. Funk even outscored many of her male counterparts on several tests.While she was qualified, women were not allowed to become NASA astronauts at the time. However, Funk blazed her own trail in aviation. The city of Grapevine said she became the first female flight instructor at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. As a flight instructor, she trained more than 3,000 pilots and logged more than 30,000 hours of flight time. Her career saw her garner international respect.
