Funke, Rudolf, 1884-1967 : Inventor and industrialist Rudolf Funke was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, and embarked on a business career after graduating from school. With the encouragement of his father August, Rudolf became interested in the design and production of dental burs. The first dental burs were hand-produced but August envisaged automated production and encouraged his sons to exploit this opportunity. In 1909, Rudolf and his brother Otto founded Gebrüder Funke Aktiengesellschaft which was later renamed Jota Werke Gebrüder Funke Aktiengesellschaft. The brothers developed a mechanised technique of milling the dental burs which replaced the hand-cutting method used before. By 1911, the company had the required machinery and other equipment to manufacture dental burs.
Soon after other countries became interested in the company's approach to dental bur manufacturing. By 1911 The Funke brothers had sold licenses and bur manufacturing equipment to Ransom and Randolph of Toledo, Ohio, and to the Dental Manufacturing Co. Ltd. of London, England.
During the First World War Jota Werke experiemented with using tungsten carbide in manufacturing their dental burs. Technological limitations at the time precluded using tungsten carbide in the dental burs themselves. Nonetheless after the First World War Jota Werke did become a major manufacturer of dental burs for Europe and the international market. By 1939, the company had attained worldwide renown for the quality of their burs.
The factory was destroyed by aerial bombardment during the Second World War, and the pace of reconstruction was slow. On behalf of the Canadian government, George Beavers of Beavers Dental approached Rudolfe Funke about bringing his production methods and knowledge to Canada to improve Canadian dental burs. Funke accepted the invitation and came to Morrisburg, Ontario with two of Jota Werke's skilled workers, Ernst Jakob and Wilhelm Handwerker. Here, he and his colleagues began immediately with the development of the machinery required to produce tungsten carbide burs. Their work also led to the production of the "Jet" dental drill by Beavers Dental.
Rudolf Funke's immediate family followed him to Morrisburg in 1948. At first all the children, Edgar, Ly-Anne and Mary-Louise, worked at Beavers Dental. Eventually each began to pursue his or her own individual career. Edgar Funke studied engineering and became a computer specialist, and took a position with the National Research Council. Ly-Anne became a librarian and Mary-Louise worked as a curator and teacher in the field of Fine Arts.