Funston was born on October 12, 1910, in Waterloo, Iowa, and spent most of his youth in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after moving there in 1915.

[1][2] He graduated from Trinity College in 1932, as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, president of the senior honor society and the class valedictorian.

In 1944, he became assistant director of the Industrial Readjustment Branch of the Navy, and held the rank of lieutenant commander.

[3] During his tenure, he was known as a "demanding boss" who had "high standards of excellence, a fantastic memory and the ability to keep many balls in the air at the same time.

[6] Funston, who lived most of the year in Sanibel, Florida, died at his summer home in Greenwich, Connecticut, on May 15, 1992.