Herbert Oliver Funsten

WILLIAMSBURG - Dr. Herbert Oliver Funsten of Williamsburg, Va., died Nov. 21, 2007, at the age of 77.
Born in Richmond, Va., he was the son of the late Landon Randolph Funsten and the late Mary Stuart Teusler Funsten; grandson of Oliver Herbert Funsten and Bessie Carter Minor Funsten and of Dr. Rudolph Bolling Teusler and Mary Woodward Teusler.
He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Edythe Reed Funsten; two sons, Landon Randolph Funsten II and his wife, Martha Brown Funsten, of Raleigh, N.C., and Herbert Oliver Funsten III and his wife, Ann White Funsten, of Los Alamos, N.M. Six grandchildren survive: Landon Randolph Funsten III, Melissa Hammond Funsten, Jennifer Reed Funsten, Herbert Oliver Funsten IV, Emily Kathryn Funsten, and Kristin Reed Funsten.
A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Dr. Funsten was graduated from St. Christopher's School in Richmond, attended Washington and Lee University, and received his Bachelor's degree and Doctorate degree in physics from the University of Virginia. His three years of post-doctoral study were spent at Princeton University.
Dr. Funsten served in the United States Army Chemical Corps for two years, participating in the nuclear weapons tests Operation Plumbbob in Nevada and Operation Redwing on Eniwetok Atoll. He was a lifelong modern jazz pianist who played for many years with the Williamsburg Jazz Ensemble, a voracious reader, and an erudite, stimulating debater.
For 39 years he served as Professor of Physics at the College of William and Mary. His experimental work in nuclear physics was primarily performed at the Jefferson National Laboratory and its predecessors VARC and CEBAF in Newport News.
Dr. Funsten served on the Southern Interstate Nuclear Board, the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, the board of the Science Museum of Virginia, the Williamsburg Planning Commission, and the founding board of Old Colony Bank. Memberships on school boards were Jamestown Academy and Hampton Roads Academy.
Private burial will be in Hollywood Cemetery, and a memorial service will be held at St. James's Episcopal Church in Richmond on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial contributions be made to Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, St. James's Episcopal Church in Richmond, or a favorite charity.