John Timothy Fulcher

Services for Colonel (Ret) John Timothy Fulcher are scheduled as followed: Visitation on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at Beaty Funeral Home from 6-8pm; Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, at First Baptist Church, Mineola at 2pm. Burial Service will be held immediately following the funeral at Cedars Memorial Gardens Cemetery.
Col. Fulcher was born to the late Elmer Lee and Dorothy Virginia Fulcher in Dallas, TX on November 12, 1943. He is survived by his wife Nita of 52 years; children, Elizabeth, and John; nephew Allan Fulcher; and nieces Rachel Moore and Emma Morton. He was proceeded by death by his parents; first wife, Joyce; brother, Tony; daughters, Christiane and Jennifer; and nephew, Jay Rainer.
Col. Fulcher grew up in Mineola, Texas and was a 1962 graduate of Mineola High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA. He was a member of Alpha Kappa Chapter of Kappa Alpha Order.
Col. Fulcher joined the Army in 1966 and rose to the rank of Colonel serving seven U.S. Presidents before his retirement in 1997 after 31 years of continued military service. Col. Fulcher was an Infantry Colonel and served in Command, Operations, War Planning and Training Assignments during his career. He served in Company, Battalion, Brigade, Division, Corps and Joint Assignments in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia. His career spanned assignments in five infantry divisions to include two tours in the 101st Airborne Division in the Republic of Vietnam and Ft. Campbell, KY; the Fifth Infantry Division at Fort Polk, LA; the 8th Infantry Division in Germany and the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii. He also served as the Senior Army Advisor to the Louisiana Army National Guard during Desert Storm. He was a graduate of the Infantry Officer Candidate School and the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, both at Ft. Benning, GA; the Command and General Staff College (honor graduate) at Ft. Leavenworth, KS; and the National War College in Washington D.C. among his awards and decorations include the Combat Infantry Badge, Parachutist Badge, and the Air Assault Badge. He was awarded the Silver Star, Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star for Valor, two awards of the Purple Heart, three awards of the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal and four awards of the Army Commendation Medal.
Col. Fulcher's last assignment was at the J32 in the Operations Directorate at the United States Atlantic Command (ACOM) in Norfolk, VA. There, in a new Command established in the Department of Defense, he supervised the development of a Joint Readiness Program for the Department of Defense which merged the deployment data for wartime from all the Services. Additionally, he supervised the development of the Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and seven other Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations (ACTD) programs worth 2.7 billion dollars.
He was a deacon in the First Baptist Church in Mineola and taught the Norris/Moseley men's Sunday school class for many years.
He was an upland game and waterfowl hunter all his life and loved the outdoors whether he was in a uniform or hunting clothes.
He served in past years as a member of the Mineola Rotary Club, the Mineola Memorial Library Board, the Mineola Historical Museum Board and the Mineola Youth Foundation. He loved the game of baseball and spent countless hours helping Mineola High School baseball coaches with the care and maintenance of the old high school baseball field.