William (Don) Donald Fuller

William Donald (Don) Fuller was born on November 5, 1937, in Pampa, Texas. His was the son of William Henry and Jon Fuller.  He had a six-year younger brother, Harold Gordon Fuller.  He became a Christian at the Pampa First Baptist Church as a teenager. He went to meet his Lord and Savior on July 20th, 2022, in Kerrville, Texas, where he was survived by his children and great grandchildren.  They raised five children, Michael James, Debra Lynn, Lori Ann, Sandra Kay, and Daniel Wayne.  He graduated from Pampa High School in Pampa, Texas in 1955 and attended college for 1-1/2 years at North Texas State College, Denton, Texas, majoring in Journalism. In 1957 he went to Southern California where he worked for Atomics International, a Division of North American Aviation in Canoga Park, California, for 11-1/2 years finishing those years as a Nuclear Test Engineer at the company in Chatsworth, California.  In 1968 he went to work for Santa Barbara Research Center (SBRC), a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft Company in Goleta, California, starting as a Quality Assurance Engineer.  He retired from SBRC in 1995 as a Program Manager and International Marketing Manager. While at SBRC he travelled to 40 countries around the world and some of those many times.

During his life in Goleta, California he was an active member and officer at the local Santa Barbara Elks Lodge #613. He was a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Explorer Scout, Boy Scout Cub Master, Assistant Boy Scout Troop Master, and trainer of adult Boy Scout Leaders.  He led a weeklong special training course for Boy Scout potential youth leaders for two consecutive years.  He was recognized by the Santa Barbara Boy Scout Mission Council organization for his contribution to local Boy Scouts and was awarded the highest award that can be locally awarded, The Silver Beaver Award.  He was an active member of the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club (SBARC) as an amateur radio operator (a life-long ambition) since being a Boy Scout.  He became very active as a member of SBARC in a sub-group of radio operator in providing emergency communications called Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES).   ARES prepared for time of various emergencies that could affect the communication systems of private and public service organizations (County Fire and County Sheriff & Santa Barbara City Police, and the Red Cross.  He served in several local and Santa Barbara County leadership positions of ARES, as well as President of SBARC.  In 1992 he was awarded the Goleta, California Golden Deed Award for recognition of his service to the community.  This local service award was accompanied by recognition certificates by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors and the Assembly of the State of California.  After he retired from SBRC in 1995 he and his wife moved to Lancaster, California (Northern Los Angeles County) where he became involved as a volunteer with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.  As a volunteer for six years and spending over 5,000 hours, he served in many positions which included Volunteer Coordinator, Data Manager for the Lancaster Station Gang Detail, Data Manager for two “Men in Black” undercover sting operations imprisoned nearly 200 criminals and which resulted in Don receiving the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Meritorious Service award, the second only such award to a volunteer in the Department’s history.  He was also presented with the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station’s Volunteer of the Year award in 1997.

When he retired in 1995, he and Karen purchased a motorhome and began local trips with their Elks Lodge camping club plus periodic trips around the country.  In 2002 they sold their home in Lancaster and began travelling full-time in their motorhome around the country.  They visited every state in the USA except North Dakota and the far North-eastern states.  When the diesel prices grew to over $4 per gallon, the resulting impact on their retirement budget required that they stop travelling and they settled in North Texas.  After settling near Princeton, Texas he continued his faithful worship of the Lord as an active member of the Collin County Cowboy Church. They eventually moved to their desired South-Central Texas Hill County location in Kerrville, Texas.  They spent the rest of their retirement life in beautiful Kerr County Texas and were active in their neighborhood Riverfront Clubhouse Church.  He was an active Life member of the Kerrville, Texas Elks Lodge where was also active as a Director in the Veterans Assistance Dogs organization that rescued dogs, trained them as service dogs and gave them free of charge to disabled military veterans.

Don’s death was preceded by the death of their oldest son Michael James Fuller, on July 6, 2016; By his wife, Karen Fuller, on April 19th 2019; and his brother, Harold Gordon Fuller, on October 18, 2021.  

Don is survived by daughters Debra Lynn Fuller of Tyler, Texas, Lori Ann Fuller of Santa Barbara, California, Sandra Jay Veazey of Golden Valley, Arizona and son Daniel Wayne Fuller of Ventura, California.   Don and Karen had four grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

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