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OCALA, Florida — WWE Hall of Famer Dory Funk Jr., who grew up in the Amarillo area and helped make his family one of the most influential dynasties in professional wrestling, died Tuesday. He was 85.
Funk died while receiving hospice care in Ocala, Florida, his wife, Marti Funk, told the Ocala Gazette. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
Born Dorrance Earnest Funk Jr. on Feb. 3, 1941, in Hammond, Indiana, Funk grew up in the Texas Panhandle and attended Canyon High School, where he played football and basketball.
He later played tackle at what was then West Texas State, now West Texas A&M University, under legendary football coach Joe Kerbel. Funk was a member of the 1962 Buffaloes team that finished 9-2 and defeated Ohio University 15-14 in the Sun Bowl.
Funk began his professional wrestling career in 1963, competing for his father Dory Funk Sr.’s Amarillo-based Western States Sports promotion. The regional organization, commonly known as the Amarillo territory, held events across West Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and the Oklahoma Panhandle.
After their father’s death in 1973, Dory Funk Jr. and his younger brother, Terry Funk, took over the promotion and helped train wrestlers who would go on to compete around the world.