National Cowboy Museum inducts its newest Great Westerners

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum will celebrate its newest Hall of Great Westerners inductees during the 62nd Annual Western Heritage Awards April 14-15. Among the inductees will be legendary businessman and former Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Chairman Robert “Bob” Funk Sr. 

Funk is co-founder and president of Express Employment Professionals, which provides clients with temporary staffing, professional search, human resources and evaluation services across various industries. Funk is also the owner of Express Ranches, an Angus and Hereford cattle producer, and home to championship-caliber Clydesdale and Percheron horses which compete throughout the U.S. and Canada. 

“[Bob’s] vision for business and the staffing industry helped bring Express Employment International, one of the biggest staffing companies in North America, to Oklahoma City,” said Bill Stoller, co-founder and CEO of Express Employment International, while also complimenting Express Ranches’ impact on Oklahoma. “Bob’s efforts have single-handedly put Oklahoma on the map for the best breeding stock of Angus ever seen in the state. He embodies the best of the American West, and all of us at Express International applaud his recognition and honor.” 

Funk’s Express businesses are not his only investments into Oklahoma City over the years. The entrepreneur also had a hand in the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A baseball Redhawks franchise, formerly of Oklahoma City, American Hockey League team Oklahoma City Barons and soccer team Oklahoma City Energy Football Club. Funk was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2017. 

Alongside Funk, Daniel “80 John” Webster Wallace (1860-1939) will be inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners. Born into slavery near the Gulf of Mexico, Wallace worked his way into becoming an innovative cowboy and rancher, after beginning his career as a chuckwagon helper and horse wrangler. The West Texan solidified himself as a family man, businessman, philanthropist and shining example of the times’ bountiful Black cowboys, accumulating more than $1 million – valued at more than $20.6 million today – prior to his death, with no loans, mortgages or other debts associated. 

You can learn more about this year’s Western Heritage Awards honorees by visiting www.nationalcowboymuseum.org.