Donald Anthony Fuller

Fuller, Donald Anthony

June 24, 1926 - February 1, 2021

Donald Anthony Fuller passed away peacefully, Monday, February 1, 2021, at Babcock Healthcare Center in the Salemtowne Retirement Community of Winston-Salem N.C. He was 94.

Don's talents as an artist and maker blossomed early, shaping his entire life, character and career. He married Jane Church on November 23, 1951. After moving to Burlington, VT, Don reconnected with his childhood friend, Guy Page and his young wife, Jan. Jane was busy making friends with Emily Rice and her husband, Rod. The acquaintance of these 3 young couples grew into an enduring friendship between the Fullers, Pages and Rices which is now entering its fourth generation. As Don often said, "Guy and Jan had a sailboat and a VW bus, Rod and Emily had a motorboat and some classic cars, and Jane and I had a beach with plenty of driftwood for roasting hot dogs and melting S'mores."

Don and Jane ultimately settled in Jane's hometown of Winston-Salem in 1954. Don became a Technical Illustrator at Western-Electric. He designed and acted as General Contractor to build their family home in Westmore Hills.

Don also threw himself into a range of volunteer activities from Scouting, to an Astronomy Club which built the Nature-Science Center's planetarium at Reynolda to The Mayflower Society and later as a docent at The Museum of Southern Decorative Arts. He built an 18 foot sailboat in his garage. He and Jane took their sons David and Dan, sailing in the Summer and Skiing in the Winter. Plus, Don took David and Dan hiking, camping and canoeing as well as on other Scouting adventures. Like their Father, both David and Dan became Eagle Scouts.

Every organization Don joined got the benefit of his quick wit and fast thinking. When the Wahissa Lodge Building was under construction at Raven Knob Scout Reservation, the volunteer builders were horrified to discover that they had laid-out the plumbing and electrical conduit backwards before pouring the slab. Don saved the day. "This building has no interior load-bearing walls? So, we can just flip the floorplan!" Problem solved.

Along the way, Don and Jane fell in love with the works of the Dutch Master, Johannes Vermeer. They found time to travel the world to see every original Vermeer ever painted, save one. Late in life, with their traveling days behind them, they learned that "the Vermeer that got away" was to be exhibited at the Louvre Museum in Paris. While visiting his in-laws in Finland, Dan Page, son of the late Guy and Jan Page, took a detour to the Louvre. Standing in front of Vermeer's masterpiece, Dan called Don and Jane on his cell, answered every question and described the painter's handiwork right down to the brushstrokes, colors and shading.

Don deeply loved his family and friends. They revelled in and returned his love. His final days were spent in the embrace of those who shared his life, in-person, on video conferences or phone calls, often holding his loved ones or their photos to his huge heart.

Don is survived by his loving wife of more than 69 years, whom he nicknamed H.B. for "honeybunch," Jane Church Fuller at Salemtowne; son, David, wife, Sondra Fuller of Decatur, AL, step-grandson, Matthew E. and wife, Bugaa Mulkeen of Whippany, NJ; son, Dan and wife Hassania and granddaughters Rita and Sofia Fuller of Falls Church, VA as well as generations of Pages and Rices whom he loved as if they were his own children and grandchildren and who loved him as if he were their father or grandfather. Don is also survived by Tauheedah "T" Freeman, his primary caregiver at Salemtowne during the final years of his life and whom the Fullers, Pages and Rices are proud to call their sister and consider part of their family. T's loving care gave Don, aka "Pookie," a whole new lease on life and she continued to care for him until the day he passed.

Don's family would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the entire staff of Salemtowne and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for the outstanding care and endless kindness which they offered as Don passed into eternity as well as his hundreds of tireless prayer warriors around the world; plus, his son David's fraternity brothers in the Mu Xi Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega at High Point University and all Don's Brothers in Scouting from Troop 1 at the Unitarian Church in Burlington and Mount Norris Scout Reservation in Vermont to Pack and Troop 722 at Highland Presbyterian Church and Raven Knob Scout Reservation here in North Carolina, where thanks to the late George Troxler, a world expert in aquatic safety, Don became the first Scouter in history to fulfill every requirement and earn Scout Lifeguard in a single day. God bless them each and everyone.

Don's family asks that you join them in supporting causes dear to his heart:

Pookie's Fund for Team Inspiration, 1000 Salemtowne Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27106.

Wahissa Lodge Building Maintenance Fund at Old Hickory Council, BSA, 6600 Silas Creek Pkwy, Winston-Salem, NC 27106. Write "Donald A. Fuller Memorial" in the memo line.

Earle Dalbey Endowed Scholarship Fund at High Point University, write "Donald A. Fuller-APO Memorial" in the memo line. Bradley Taylor, High Point University Alumni Office, One University Parkway, Drawer 29, High Point, NC 27268.

To view Jane's obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/jane-fuller-obituary?id=56417711