James Franklin Funke, Jr. 67, of North Vernon, passed away on Friday, May 29, 2026 at his residence surrounded by family and friends.

A funeral service will be conducted at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at Zion Baptist Church. Rev. Lenny Thorpe will officiate. Burial will be in the Stewart Cemetery. Visitation will be from 10:00 AM until the time if the service at the church. Sawyer - Pickett Funeral & Cremation Service has been entrusted with James' arrangements.

Born on February 9, 1959, in Cincinnati Ohio, he was the son of the late James Funke, Sr. and Marjorie Lou (Stewart) Funke.

James married Sharon Kay Cartwright on December 23, 1988. Together they have three children.

Darby Kay (Seth) Robertson of North Vernon IN

Dena Lou (Michael) Babin of Seymour IN

Harrison D. Funke of Indianapolis

He has one grandchild Maverick James Babin of Seymour IN.

He claimed his greatest achievement was having all three of his children graduate from college.

He is survived by his wife, children, grandchild, as well as his sisters, Dorene (Tim) Krawczyk, and Donna (Tony) McIlvenna, and many nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his parents and his brother Stewart Funke.

James is a Jennings County High School graduate of 1977, where he held three track and field school records for high hurdles, low hurdles, and was a member of 4x220 yd relay team. After high school he attended Tri- State University, now Trine University, and graduated in 1981 with a B.A in Social Studies. There he was a member of the track and field team, student senate, a residence hall assistant, and received a Gold Key for having five or more consecutive quarters of a 3.5 GPA.

He was hired as the Election Clerk by Charles Lane in May, 1983. He then transferred to be the Child Support Clerk before leaving for law school in August of 1986. Charles passed in February, 1987, and James was appointed Clerk of Jennings County by the governor where after he was elected Clerk in 1990 and 1994. He graduated law school from Indiana University School of Law Indianapolis in November of 1991, a month later than originally planned due to his first born daughter Darby being born on October 25, 1991, the day he was originally set to graduate. In 1996, James was elected the first Superior Court Judge of Jennings County where he served two terms. He began practicing law inside his family's 1867 farm house in 2008 where he retired in December 2025.

As an avid sports fan, James was a Milwaukee Brewers baseball fan and a St. Louis Blues hockey fan. He coached youth hockey and youth baseball and softball for many years. James jogged up and down the road almost every day as a dedicated runner. If the weather was bad, he ran on the treadmill and biked in his man-cave.

James also loved traveling to seven of the ten different Medieval Times Castles, and loved going to Walt Disney World to stay at the Coronado Springs Resort with his wife.

Memorials may be made in honor of James to Zion Baptist Church.