Dr. Tom Prichard

Welcome to the Funking Conservatory

Dr. Tom Prichard and I coached together side by side at the WWF Funking Dojo for a year and
a half in Stamford, Ct. We were privileged to have some great athletes to work with. (Kurt Angle, Test,
Christian, Edge Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Crash Holly, Darren Drosdov, Rikishi and many more.

Now at the request of Head of Talent development at the WWE, Johnny Ace (John Laurinaitis)
Dr. Tom will be in attendance at the September Funking Conservatory and our !BANG! television
show. He will be scouting talent for World Wrestling Entertainment.

We are proud to have Dr. Tom Prichard here at the Funking Conservatory.

Back when Dr. Tom was playing linebacker for J. Frank Dobie High he was a fan of
"The Funks" and wrote the following theme about my father in Mythology Class.

I was pleasantly surprised and forever grateful.

Dory Funk Jr.
 

J. Frank Dobie High School
Houston, Texas    1976
Mr. Cotton's Mythology Class
Room 208

"I Raised My Boy to be a Champion"
By Tom Prichard

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Dory Funk Sr. was truly one of the best wrestlers I've seen in action. Dory Sr. was a perfect
example of a dedicated father. He never played favorites. He was always equally dividing the
work on his ranch between Dory Jr. and Terry. He was doing this to give them a good healthy
life on a ranch, out of doors, instead of the smoggy city.

Both of Dory's sons are champion's in their own right. There was no man happier in the world
on February 11, 1969 than Dory Funk Sr., when Dory Jr. won the world championship in Florida.
Then, at that moment he know all his wrestling training, all his coaching had paid off. When Dory Jr.
won the title, Dory told him that he would have to bring nothing but dignity to the belt, and honor his
obligations. He taught Dory Jr. to defend the championship against all leading contenders. He warned
him about holding the championship of the world would bring him many rewards, and it would-be
rough at times, along with a lot of travel. He told him that he should put out his best whether wrestling
in front of a crowd of 12,000 at a huge coliseum, or whether he was wrestling in front of a crowd of
six or seven hundred at a high school gymnasium for the belt. Dory Funk Sr. raised two great sons,
and had a right to be proud of them.

On May 26, 1973 tragedy struck the Funk family. Dory Sr. passed away due to a heart attack,
Dory Sr. died at the age of fifty three.

Dory Sr. was a bad guy in many parts of the nation. He and Terry were almost mobbed at New York's
Madison Square Garden after a tag team match in which the Funks came out victorious. He started his
pro career in 1949 in Amarillo, and it extended through four decades. From 1948 to 1951, Dory Sr.
was a high school football coach at Cal Farley's Boy's Ranch, near Amarillo. This was a place for
homeless boys. He continued to wrestle while he coached. Dory was an outstanding high school wrestler
in his hometown, Hammond, Indiana, and was also student body president of Hammond High while he
was there. Dory Sr also wrestled at Indiana University and in his senior year was elected into the
Indiana Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame.
 

Dory Funk Sr. was certainly a man who believed for what he stood up for. He was considered "The
King of Texas Death Matches," because no one was able to defeat him in a Texas Death Match.
Many wrestlers tried but Dory Funk Sr. always loved this rough type of match, and excepted any and
all challenges. Dory Funk Sr. won the Brass Knucks championship on many different occasions, and
usually held the title a long time. Dory Sr. stood up for his sons, whenever the thought somebody was
trying to take advantage of them. Dory Funk Sr. was a man of many talents, and the whole wrestling
world was shocked at his death. He was a man that was loved and hated. He always did the best for
his family and put them before himself always.
 
 

Dr. Tom Prichard and Dory Funk Jr.
 

E-mail Dory Funk Jr.
Read the !BANG! newsletter
Join the Funking Conservatory
Visit Dory Funk's Home Page