It’s a magnificently carved Steinway piano that sits as a quiet and unassuming presence in Mary Funderburg’s living room.
Quiet and unassuming — its demeanor appears much like that of the woman who accepted it as a gift from her husband on their 39th wedding anniversary. When asked to play, she softly says something about her fingers being rusty or the keys being dusty.
But they’re not in the least — neither the fingers nor the keys.
It’s because she and Lonnie Funderburg, her husband of 62 years, “don’t let much grass grow” under their feet. Her fingers are obviously right at home tapping out an old hymn, just as they have done many times for church or worship services held at the retirement center just down the street from the couple’s home, where her husband is among several who lead group Bible studies for the residents.
“They just let us because we come cheap,” he said with a laugh.She smiles, nods and plays on.
Don’t be fooled by the humility they radiate. Ever since Mary changed her last name from “Walker” to “Funderburg” in 1943, the couple has been a dual force, shaping the landscape of Alabama Baptist life.
Just ask Tom Corts, president of Samford University. “They are committed to the Lord and they love Samford. They are always pushing for what is best and are willing to roll up their sleeves and do whatever is necessary,” Corts said.
Strong ties to Samford
They have a connection with the school that ranges from Lonnie Funderburg’s decades of influence in the anesthesiology program to his service on the board of overseers, a duty he still fulfills today, Corts said.
And where did it all begin for the couple? At Samford, of course.
At the time, however — class of 1942 — the institution still hailed as Howard College. “At graduation, she was at the end of the line for those who were getting their B.S. in English, and I was at the front of the line for those getting their B.S. in pharmacy,” Lonnie Funderburg said.
He began to talk to her, and there in the line, Mary Walker was a captive audience. “It was then I began knowing he existed,” she said with a laugh. They became engaged Feb. 18, 1943, and on May 18 they were married at the former Ruhama Baptist Church, Birmingham. “We have celebrated the 18th of every month for 62 years — it’s a special day,” Mary Funderburg said.
But after the honeymoon came and went, a couple of years had to pass before the pair could celebrate together. The nation was deep into World War II, and newlywed Lonnie Funderburg shipped out with the Navy to serve in the Pacific. He did not return until 1945.
During that time, the couple remained strong through frequent letters. “We knew each other really well to begin with. We were fine because we had no secrets,” he said.
The couple’s resumés have grown miles longer since the time when they were miles apart. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Alabama, and he finished medical school at the University of Alabama Medical School (now the University of Alabama at Birmingham).
Lonnie Funderburg has taught in settings from missions trips to Haiti and Gaza to men’s Sunday School classes at Southside Baptist Church Birmingham, and First Baptist Church, Birmingham, where the two have been members since 1986.
Mary Funderburg previously served on the board of trustees of The Alabama Baptist and as religious education director of Southside Baptist Church, Birmingham, She also traveled around the state teaching training union classes. She’s also served as organist, pianist, mother of three and in various other roles throughout the years.
There were times, she said, where the family “didn’t go too far from the front door,” she said, explaining that they became experts at “washing the car in the rain” and living on $100 a month while raising their small children.
But the hard work got them through their higher education, she said. It’s obvious she’s proud of her husband, the first anesthesiologist employed by the state’s Baptist hospitals, Birmingham’s Man of the Year in 1974 and Samford’s Alumni of the Year in 1998.
But the well-respected physician who directed the Birmingham Baptist Hospital Nurse Anesthesia Program for nearly two decades is a man whose “work ethic is not self-centered,” said Michael Fiedler, associate professor and chair of the department of nurse anesthesia at Samford’s Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing.
“Those who had him as an instructor think he walked on water,” Fiedler said, referring to several well-known physicians in the Birmingham area. Everyone who learned from Lonnie Funderburg learned well, Fiedler explained, and Funderburg took that responsibility seriously.
“He’s a man who puts his money where his faith is and does things from a Christian perspective. He’s left a lasting impression here,” Fiedler said.
The Samford department of nurse anesthesiology, now under Fiedler’s direction, is a newly revived version of what Lonnie Funderburg used to direct and heavily impacted — so much so that the alumni of the old program established a lectureship in his name last year.
Samford’s library now also holds the couple’s wartime love letters, available for anyone wanting to learn more about what life was like during World War II.
“There’s a timeline of their influence here (at Samford) that all three Samford presidents and others who were here during their time have realized and known,” Corts said. “It’s a connection they have to the institution that cannot be broken.”
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