Mark A. Funkhouser, 63, of Mulberry, passed away on Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at Franciscan Health East.

He was born June 13, 1960, in Logansport. He was the son of the late Thomas Funkhouser and Anna (Durham) Bothmann.

Mark graduated from Lafayette Jefferson High School with the class of 1978.

On May 8, 2021 he married Harriett Hines (Deboy) in Lafayette and she survives.

Mark had worked for Landis and Gyr from 1983 until 1988. He then worked for K-Motion Racing as a motor builder, dyno operator, and traveled with the K-Motion racing team from 1988 until 1996.Traveling with the team was his greatest career joy. Mark finished his working days at ALCOA as a press operator from 1996 until retiring in 2021.

Speed and racing were Mark’s top interests, whether it was NASCAR, drag racing, Indy car, or motorcycles, he was a fan. In fact, he had not missed an Indy 500 race, camping weekend with his best buddies, since the 80’s. Racing was a big part of his life and held some of his proudest moments. He spent many hours working on race teams. The two he talked about often were the Bruce Hartlep oval track team and the Sherrie Kamp pro-stock drag racing team. His time with Sherrie and her team, in 1992, led to feature articles in Super Stock magazine, High Performance Pontiac, and more. Mark was also featured in magazines for building winning racing engines, two of which were an 800 cubic inch mountain motors for IHRA and an NHRA 500 cubic inch engine. He was so well known in this area, that his friends dropped jaws while at a race, when Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins yelled from his racing trailer for Mark to cross the ropes and come see him!

Mark was able to achieve a major bucket list item this past summer. On July 31, 2023, Mark sat behind an Indy Car driver and took four laps at 180+ MPH around the Indy 500 track.

Mark also enjoyed being at his lake house, on his boat, classic cars, working on cars, sitting on his deck listening to music, and having his two pups, Ernie and Emme, by his side. Mark had two special neighbor boys, at his lake house, that brought him such joy, their names are Mason Staggs and Raiden Light. He enjoyed any time spent with his family and friends and could make you laugh without trying. His smile and laugh were contagious.

Surviving is his beloved wife, Harriett L. DeBoy of Mulberry, two daughters, Kayla (husband Zach) Garrison, and Sonya (husband Nathan) Bonus of Lafayette. Two brothers, Tom (wife Tracy) Funkhouser of Lafayette and Bill (wife Jackie Rankine) Robinson of Canada and a sister, Debbie (husband Rick) Mooney of Kokomo. A special cousin, Serena (husband Marty) Whitehead of Lafayette and a sister-in-law, Beverly (husband Del) Harper of West Lafayette. Also surviving are three granddaughters, Leah and Maely Garrison, and Willow Bonus all of Lafayette and nieces, Lori Mooney-Taylor and Terra Funkhouser.

Mark was preceded in death by four nieces.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date.