Randy Funkhouser, owner of O'Sullivan Farms and longtime Charles Town HBPA president, dies at 70

Randy Funkhouser, a breeder and the longtime president of the Charles Town Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association in West Virginia who was widely respected among horsemen nationwide, died on Feb. 4 of complications of diabetes, according to a son. Funkhouser was 70.

Funkhouser, who operated O’Sullivan Farms, which his grandfather founded in 1939, served 16 years as the president of the Charles Town HBPA, and 25 years as a board member. He frequently lobbied the state legislature on issues important to racing and breeding in the state, and he was a longtime advocate of the West Virginia Breeders Classics, a series of races for statebred horses that was created by Sam Huff, the former NFL football star who died last year.

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Born and raised in Charles Town, Funkhouser graduated from Stanford with a degree in creative writing but returned to West Virginia to partner with his mother, Ruth, and a longtime mentor, Frank Gall, in operating O’Sullivan Farms. The farm bred hundreds of horses, many in partnerships, including stakes winners Confucius Say and Julie B.

Joe Funkhouser, one of Frank’s sons, said that his father took pride in following in his grandfather’s footsteps with the operation of O’Sullivan. But he was also motivated by the long history of racing and breeding in the region and its impact on the community.

“He was passionate about it,” Joe said. “It was a bulwark of our local economy, and dad was very aware of that. He saw that what was good for the Thoroughbred industry was good for the community.”

Funkhouser served on the boards of the National HBPA, the West Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders Association, the West Virginia Breeders Classics, and the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. He was also a founding member of the Charles Town Racetrack Chaplaincy.

Funkhouser also pursued his passions for photography and writing, and he recently published a book of poetry, “Shenandoah Valley Sketches.”

“Randy had a voracious appetite for life, learning, and travel,” an obituary prepared by the family said. “He had an unbridled hope that each year’s foal crop would be the best yet. He was a visionary, a scholar, and above all a man of honor. He had a big heart and laughed and wept equally with abandon. His beaming smile always lit up the room.”

Funkhouser is survived by his wife of 46 years, Clissy; sons John and Joe; and daughter Kate.