Texarkana college starts scholarship

TEXARKANA — The University of Arkansas Community College at Hope-Texarkana has established the Martha Funderburk Memorial Endowed Scholarship in honor of Funderburk, a longtime instructor at the college.

The faculty senate helped raise the $10,000 to begin the endowment, said Sondra Townsend, Funderburk’s longtime friend and colleague.

“Not only did Martha love her students, but she also loved and cared for her co-workers,” she stated in a news release. “This is evident by the immediate action that the college’s Faculty Senate took in getting right to work to raise $10,000 to begin the endowment. So many have precious memories or stories of their own they could share about her.”

Funderburk began working at Red River Vocational Technical School in 1988 as the Job Training Partnership Act coordinator. She later served as a faculty member in the Developmental Education Division, where she taught pre-college reading and writing until her retirement in 2014.

She died in January after a lengthy illness.

Funderburk’s son, Kevin Funderburk, said: “My mom wanted to help students no matter what; that was all that was important to her. The creation of this scholarship makes it possible to continue helping students in her memory.”

Townsend said she met Funderburk in January 1992 when she enrolled at the college. Funderburk helped her sign up with the Job Training Partnership Act for financial assistance and became a mentor.

“This part of my story is no doubt identical to hundreds of other students she encountered,” Townsend said.

“She approached so many to find out how she could help. But for me, she became so much more. She became my truly special friend and did not stop encouraging.”