Texas State Army ROTC - Captain Alex Funkhouser Scholarship

Hello Everyone,

My name is Jennifer Funkhouser. I am a 1999 graduate of Texas State University. While there, I met and married my husband, CPT Alex Funkhouser. He was commissioned on August 6, 1999 and we went on to live the typical Army lifestyle. In the 6 years that we were married we lived in Vilseck, Germany; Ft. Knox, Ft. Polk and Ft. Hood. We even added to our family with the births of our daughters, Kaitlyn now 6 and Allison now 4.

On December 9, 2005 Alex deployed with his unit out of Ft. Hood to Iraq. He was the company commander for HHC, 1/12 Inf, 4th ID. Just like in college he was very well liked by his peers and his men. That's possibly due to the 6 years of prior service that he had before returning to college for his degree. On Memorial Day, May 29, 2006 - 2 years ago today, Alex was killed by a vehicle-borne IED in Baghdad. He had a CBS news crew shadowing him for the day. They were doing a piece on what soldiers do in the war while everyone back home is having their long Memorial Day weekend barbeques and parties. They made it to their first check point when the IED exploded. There were 8 other soldiers there that day with my husband as well as the reporter, Kimberly Dozier, the camera man, sound man and their Iraqi interpretor "Sam." Sam, the 2 CBS crewman and my husband were killed instantly. The other 8 soldiers were severly wounded but thankfully survived the blast.

Last fall I started to meet with officials at Texas State University in hopes to establish a scholarship in Alex's name. This is something that Alex and I had talked about doing soon after we were married. Back then, the plan was that we would create a joint scholarship fund when he retired from the Army. Well, since that never happened, I've decided to create one in his name to help out the ROTC students. The scholarship will be called the CPT Alex Funkhouser Memorial Army ROTC Scholarship for Texas State University. The goal is to raise the $25,000 needed and then let it sit for a year to gain interest. Once that happens, it can then be given out annually to an ROTC cadet that shows the committment to the military and the leadership skills as well as the academic qualifications that Alex possessed. I feel that this is the ultimate way to honor Alex by giving back to a school that we loved and the military that he died for. With this scholarship his name and his story will truly live on forever.

The hardest part of all of this will be the fundraising. I'm contacting my local VFW's and American Legions, but I can only do so much. I'm asking for everyone to help get the word out on this as well as contacting local businesses or groups in your area. If anyone is interested in donating, checks can be mailed to:

Texas State University
Military Science Department
601 University Drive
San Marcos, TX 78666

Note line on check: CPT Alex Funkhouser Scholarship Because the name is so long, it might be better to have a separate note explaining what the donation is for.

If you have any questions about the scholarship, please free to contact me by email or calling my cell: 254-220-8219. Please do not call the school. They are only allowed to give specific information to me since I am the originator of this scholarship.

Thanks,
Jennifer Funkhouser















CPT JAMES ALEXANDER FUNKHOUSER JR
Born 12 FEB 1971 in Okinawa, Japan. Alex graduated from Katy's Taylor High School JUN 1989, and attended Stephen F Austin University for 2 years. He enlisted in the Army JUL 1991 as a 19K armor crewman. In 6 years he received many awards and recognitions and was promoted to SSG. Alex chose Southwest Texas State University when he was selected to participate in the Army's Green to Gold program in 1997. He felt SWT was an excellent school with a great ROTC program. During his 2 years at SWT he made the Dean's list, was awarded the General Abrams/USAA scholarship, attended Airborne School qualifying as a military parachutist and met and fell in love with fellow student Jennifer Garza. Alex graduated AUG 1999 with a BBA in Management and a minor in Military Science. He and Jennifer married 20 MAY 2000 and had two daughters. Over the next 5 years Alex served in increasingly responsible positions that resulted with his selection as Commander HHC 1-12 Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. Alex deployed to Iraq 9 DEC 2005 with his unit. He was killed by a vehicle-borne IED while accompanied by a CBS news team during patrol in downtown Baghdad 29 MAY 2006 - Memorial Day. The blast also killed 3 others.

Alex was a proud alumnus of Texas State and planned to return to the university in the Master's program. He will be remembered as a great Husband, Father, Son, Patriot and Soldier.

We will Never Forget
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