photo originally uploaded to flickr by eMaringolo
On January 6 longtime Hill East resident Ethel Funches passed away, leaving a legacy on the 1600 block of D Street Northeast, and a formidable record in the annals of women’s amateur golf. Funches was 96.
Katie Hodge said Funches made quite an impression on her when she and her realtor visited her house when it was for sale in 2002. “Mrs. Funches was a champion golfer, and really reigned between 1950 and 1980 – a pretty long run!” Hodge remembers. “She’s a reminder too that there’s a lot of history in these old houses.”
Read more about Ethel Funches’ win against tennis star Althea Gibson in the 1961 black women’s golf national championship and her 30 year amateur career.