John Fulker

TROY - Attorney and author John Edward Fulker, 96, of Troy, died October 4, 2025, at his home, with his Labrador Shadow at his side.

John is survived by his son, William Jackson Fulker and daughter-in-law Kim Ellen (Graham) Fulker; daughter Cameron Van Ausdal (Fulker) Armstrong and son-in-law Dr. Mark Thomas Armstrong, (all of Troy); ten grandchildren; sixteen great-grandchildren; and sister-in-law Kay (Hahn) Fulker; and numerous nieces and nephews. John was preceded in death by John and Nancy's son, John Andrew (Andy) Fulker, in 1989, and his wife, Nancy Jane (Van Ausdal) Fulker in April of 2015. His only sibling, Dr. Roger Jackson Fulker, also of Troy, preceded John's death by one day, on October 3, 2025.

Son of Troy natives Vivian Esta Fulker and Martha (Jackson) Fulker, John was born in Troy on April 13, 1929. John excelled at sports and was a two-way starter on Troy's 10-0 Miami Valley League Championship Football team. He graduated from Troy High School along with his high school sweetheart, Nancy Jane Van Ausdal in 1947, and went on to Miami University in Oxford on an academic scholarship. Nancy, who had followed him to Oxford, attended nearby Western College. John pledged to Phi Kappa Tau and had many fraternity brothers with whom he stayed close for many decades. With John's "heart-y" endorsement, Phi Tau named Nancy (who was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority) their Dream Girl, and John, backed by his fraternity brothers, serenaded her outside her dormitory window. He graduated from Miami with a Bachelor of Arts degree in only three years.

John was awarded a full academic scholarship to Columbia University Law School in New York City, and Nancy returned from Oxford to Troy, working at a local law firm during John's first year of law school. They married the summer after, on June 2, 1951, and moved to an apartment in New York City.

While completing his studies at Columbia, John drove a taxicab to support the newlyweds. On days when John had a class and couldn't find anywhere to park the cab near his classroom building, he would double-park, throw the hood up on the cab as if it were having engine problems, go to class and return - hours later - slamming the hood down and driving off without a ticket!

John was admitted to practice law in the state of Ohio and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in 1953 - the same year as their first son, Andy, was born. John had a private practice for several years and then was asked to join the firm of Faust and Harrelson, which subsequently became Faust, Harrelson, Fulker, and McCarthy. In 1958, he was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

Years later, John was proud to have each of his sons, Andy and Bill, graduate from law schools, pass their bar exams, and join the practice. One generation later, Bill's son, Joseph William Fulker, also became a lawyer and joined the practice. This made three generations of lawyers, all practicing for the same firm. John said his pride increased exponentially with the addition of Joe to the firm.

John was an avid Cincinnati Bengals fan, placing bets with his three children, son-in-law - and later, his grandchildren, all hopeless Cleveland Browns fans. Summer weekends were spent at Lake Loramie, where he and his father, Viv, had built a cottage in the 1950s. The cottage was a labor of love; something he and Nancy poured their hearts into. They spent every summer and fall weekend at the lake, and John would sun himself near the water, listening to the Cincinnati Reds on the radio, eating a plate of bologna and drinking an iced Pepsi. He spent hours out on the lake: sailing his small sailboat, with a black Labrador balanced on the bow, paddling a canoe with Nancy - with a black Labrador seated between them, or he and Nancy would take the hideously-camouflaged-for-duck-season Boston Whaler out, enjoying the sight of young families of ducks and geese, or perusing potential duck blind sites. For these boat rides, there would be a black Labrador and an Irish setter (Nancy's breed of choice), both balancing precariously on the bow - and occasionally going overboard if the boat hit a submerged stump. Maneuvering the boat around to haul out a surprised, soaked dog became an art form.

John and his Labradors were avid waterfowl hunters; something he relished and shared with his friends, his children, and then his grandchildren. Every year, on the third Saturday of August, the lottery drawing of duck blind sites were held at St. Marys and Lake Loramie State Parks. John and his hunting partner, Lee Hartman, actively recruited every family member and warm body they could find to increase their chances of getting drawn, in order to pick the best site. If you were family and could not attend, there was a fair chance that you might be disowned!

John hosted a weekly gin rummy game with his friends and brother Roger, and later, with Bill. Birthdays, anniversaries, and deaths were never permitted to happen on a Wednesday. They had to be rescheduled - Wednesday was card night.

Along with cards, John loved to play chess. He played whenever he could; and when he couldn't find an in-person opponent, he began to play chess through the mail. He and his more distantly-located friends would send a specially-designed postcard with a chessboard on it, back and forth, through the mail, one move per postcard. These games would take months. When he ran low on opponents (at one point, he had eleven chess mail games going at once), he would play these postcard mail chess games with prison inmates!

April Fool's Day was a national holiday to John. At a time when the post office delivered packages COD (Cash On Delivery, where the recipient paid the shipping charges upon delivery), he wrapped up cement cinder blocks and sent them to his friends.

In1985, at the age of 56, John wrote his first book, And True Deliverance Make. This, like his other five books that followed, related to a local murder trial. John was still in high school at the time of this trial, and he took several career days to watch the trial. When the school requested for him to return to class after expending all of his career days, John told them in no uncertain terms that he was staying until the end! In chronicling this book as well as his others, he was able to use court records and transcripts, newspaper accounts, and also was able to interview many of the key people involved.

John's other books followed: The View from Above in 1992; Chicken Soup, Cheap Whiskey, and Bad Women in 2000; Shards & Pellets & Knives - Oh My! in 2006; Cash, Cars and Kisses in 2012; and Home Run: A Murder Conundrum in 2015.

John's many accomplishments and activities include:

• Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Miami County, Ohio from 1954 through 1964.

• General counsel for the Miami County Planning Board and the Miami County Zoning Board from 1958 through 1981.

• Member of the Miami County, Ohio State and American Bar Associations; Member of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers, Member of the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys, and Member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

• Fellow of the Ohio State Bar Foundation.

• President of the Miami County Bar Association in 1970.

• Served on the Boards of Miami Citizens National Bank (and later, Citizens Heritage National Bank and Fifth Third Bank of Western Ohio), Miami Mutual Insurance Company, the Troy Country Club, and the Dayton Chapter of Ducks Unlimited.

• Charter member of the Dayton Chapter of Ducks Unlimited and Chairman in 1978 and 1979.

• President of the Board of Directors of the Troy Country Club in 1974, and instrumental in the controversial expansion of the golf course from 9 holes to 18 holes.

• In the early 1970s, served as Chairman of a committee of the Miami County Bar Association, which researched and recommended the preservation of Troy's Historic Courthouse Building and the construction of the current Miami County Safety Building.

• Actively engaged in the practice of law as the senior partner of the Troy, Ohio firm of Faust, Fulker & Schlemmer, LLP until his retirement in 2022.

• Generous contributor to the Miami County YMCA, the Troy Foundation, the Dayton, Ohio Chapter of Ducks Unlimited, and many other local charities.

A public visitation will be held on Friday, October 10, at Fisher-Cheney Funeral Home, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Graveside services will follow immediately afterwards. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to be sent to either Ohio's Hospice of Miami County, 3230 N. County Road 25A, Troy, Ohio 45373; or to Friends of Hayner, 301 W. Main Street, Troy, OH 45373. Condolences may be left for the family at www.fishercheneyfuneralhome.com.

Arrangements entrusted to Fisher-Cheney Funeral Home, Troy, OH. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of John Edward Fulker, please visit our floral store.