Malcolm Funn accepts the Community Service Award on behalf of himself and his late wife Annette Funn at the 19th annual Louis L. Goldstein Dinner in 2017.
Malcolm Funn addresses the crowd at the recent Juneteenth “Freedom Day” festival at Jefferson Patterson Park in St. Leonard.
STAFF PHOTO BY MARTY MADDEN
Malcolm Funn accepts the Community Service Award on behalf of himself and his late wife Annette Funn at the 19th annual Louis L. Goldstein Dinner in 2017.
Members of several entities are reeling after the death on July 26 of Calvert County activist Malcolm L. Funn.
Michael Kent, current president of the NAACP Calvert County chapter, reported Funn passed away at his Solomons home about a week after followup surgery. Funn was 77.
Funn had been involved in numerous local and state groups, and was one of five members of the state board of elections at the time of his unexpected death.
“It’s a loss to all of Calvert County,” Kent told Southern Maryland News. “He belonged to so many organizations. He was just an amazing person.”
“He was a human bridge between so many different groups in Southern Maryland,” said Diane Davies, chair of The Big Conversation: Partners in Dismantling Racism and Privilege in Southern Maryland.
Davies described Funn as “a great thinker, a leader who shared his personal experiences with others.”
In a letter to the Big Conversation’s partners, Davies wrote, “Malcolm touched many people and organizations in Southern Maryland and all of Maryland. He worked tirelessly for a better life for all people.”
One of the state organizations Funn was involved with was Strong Schools Maryland. On its website, organization leaders posted, “Malcolm was a voice of leadership in the manifold organizations where he advocated for justice. Malcolm was with us in our early days, fiercely advocating with Strong Schools Maryland as a Calvert County team leader. Malcolm saw and seized opportunities to demand that leaders strive to bring about greater, more material educational equity in Maryland.”
When he was a small child, Funn’s family moved to Calvert County when his father became principal at William Sampson Brooks High School. This was in the age of segregated schools. After graduating from Brooks, Funn attended Virginia State University and later Bowie State College. In the early 1970s he graduated from Columbus School of Law at Catholic University and later went to work for the federal government.
He married his wife, Annette, during the mid-1960s. During the 1990s, the Funns moved to Calvert County, residing in Chesapeake Beach. Both became very active in the community. Annette Funn died in July 2016.
Malcolm Funn did stints on Calvert’s planning commission and liquor board. In 2017, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) appointed him to the State Commission of African-American History and Culture. Funn was recently appointed to the Calvert Health System’s board of directors.
Visitation and services for Funn are scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 9, at Chesapeake Church in Huntingtown.
“He will be deeply missed by all of us,” Davies stated in her letter. “As we proceed in our work, let us be inspired by his memory and leadership.”
