“When I fall in love, it will be forever.” So goes Miss Fufa’s favorite song, sung by Doris Day in 1952. That was the summer she gave her heart completely to Samuel Baker Fullerton, Jr., her husband of sixty-nine years, who predeceased her January 28.
Tomme Fairfax Triplett Fullerton, known as Fufa to most of her wide circle of friends and acquaintances, was the only child of Arthur Fairfax Triplett and Vashti King Triplett. Born August 28, 1934 in Little Rock, she acquired the nickname Fufa as a baby. Her death came at home on March 1. All her life, Fufa was as distinctive as her name.
Fufa grew up in Pine Bluff and attended Miss Cooper’s Kindergarten with a group of friends who stayed close and held “kindergarten reunions” each Labor Day for many years. She attended Pine Bluff public schools and was a graduate of Miss Porter’s School of Farmington, Connecticut. She enrolled at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, before marrying Sam a year later in a wedding that was talked about for decades. Fullerton returned to her love of learning once her children were grown, and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arkansas at Monticello with a perfect 4.0 GPA. While at the University, Mrs. Fullerton served as a volunteer tutor in the Writing Center and as a charter member and first President of Sigma Tau Delta, English Scholastic Honor Society. She was also a member of the Journalism Club and a regular contributor to the University literary magazine. She was elected to membership in Alpha Chi Scholastic Honor Society and Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities.
At the age of 59, Fullerton began attending the University of Arkansas William H. Bowen School of Law, commuting daily 180 miles from Warren to Little Rock. Mrs. Fullerton earned a Juris Doctor with honors in 1999. Fullerton was Assistant Articles Editor of UALR Law Review and active in the pro bono legal clinic.
Fullerton was an active citizen of Warren. In 1986, running in outrage over an increase in city water and sewer bills that were a hardship for many, Fullerton was elected to the Warren City Council as an independent candidate. For thirty years she served as an Alderman and represented her constituents with zealous passion. She believed that everyone had a right to be listened to by their elected officials. Through most of her tenure, Mrs. Fullerton served on or chaired the Police Committee. Mrs. Fullerton was also active in the Arkansas Municipal League and served on numerous committees. Upon her retirement in 2016, she was awarded lifetime membership in the Municipal League in recognition of her service to good government.
Fullerton was an ordained Elder and Deacon in the First Presbyterian Church of Warren, where she also served as a youth sponsor, Vacation Bible School teacher and director, Circle Chairman, and President of Presbyterian Women. Mrs. Fullerton was also past president and Life Member of the Warren Junior Auxiliary and also Publicity Chair for the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries; Past Chair and Board member of the Warren YMCA; Membership Chair and Board Member of the Warren Library; Board member of Vera Lloyd Presbyterian Family Services; member of the Alumni Board of the UALR Law School; Member and past President of the Junior Sesame Club of Pine Bluff; Secretary and Board member of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America in the State of Arkansas; Surety for the State of Arkansas for the National Society of the Daughters of the Barons of Runnemede; member of the First Families of Virginia, the descendants of Colonial Governors, and the Order of the Crown in America.
Mrs. Fullerton is survived by three children: Samuel Baker Fullerton, III (Phyllis) of De Witt, Arkansas; the Reverend Dr. Fairfax Fullerton Fair of Houston, Texas; and Arthur King Fullerton of New York City; one grandson, Barton Walker Fair, Jr. (Jessie) of Houston, Texas; and two great grandchildren, Sadie Rose Fair and Ashton Samuel Fair, both of Houston, and by the latest in a long line of faithful puppies, her beloved Rottweiler, Precious.
Wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, poet, public servant, woman of faith, speaker of French and student of Latin, Greek, and Russian – a leader and lover of people and pets, she will be missed by the many whose lives she touched. We hold to the promise of resurrection and the hope that she and her beloved Sam are together again for life everlasting. We are better for her life of service and love, and we celebrate her intelligence, passion and love. She was an incomparable person.
A memorial service with Dr. Fair presiding was held at the First Presbyterian Church of Warren on March 4 at 2 pm with a reception following in the church Fellowship Hall. Pallbearers were Dr. Scott Claycomb, Thomas Frazer, Police Chief Shaun Hildreth, Bryan Martin, Bob Milton, Nazaire Minton, Cliff Morgan, and Scott Richardson. Honorary Pallbearers were Murray Claycomb, John King, Jack Miller, Dr. Kerry Pennington, Jane Harris and the Elders of The First Presbyterian Church, Warren. Burial services were Oakland Cemetery by Frazer’s Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to First Presbyterian Church or the YMCA of Warren.