Cam Fuller

Wrapped in the embrace of his wife, Donella, and his sons, William and Joseph, the family he loved beyond all telling, Cam slipped away Wednesday afternoon at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton.  

The youngest of six, Cam was a Saskatoon boy who loved his hometown and enriched it by bringing his bride here and raising his sons here; moreover, Saskatoon was and is a better place because, for 30 years, Cam wrote about this city and shared in his StarPhoenix column and in his arts reviews his quiet wisdom, his quirky and devastating wit, and his love and respect for language.  Cam cherished his family and valued his privacy, yet he allowed tens of thousands of readers to have enlightening glimpses into his domestic world, and into his wonderful heart. His writing, both professional and personal, was always worth reading because of its intelligence, but the enduring legacy of his art is its generosity of spirit. Cam had mastered the writer's noblest purposes: he served his readers, and he told the truth.  

Cam was, in the best sense, a God-fearing man. He loved Saskatchewan's north and fished many of its waters with life-long friends and family.  His hours at Candle Lake were quiet golden times for him and for us who were blessed to be there when he was. Cam was a motorcycle enthusiast, though a gentle one.  He was an accomplished housepainter, much his father's son in that respect.  He loved to cook, laying out legendary repasts at American Thanksgiving especially for his mother, who was born in Michigan.  He had been a Feehan Trojan high school football player and maintained an earnest, if not fanatical interest in the Saskatoon Hilltops, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, and the Roughriders, though the latter greatly tested his patience.  He brewed beer, gave inspired gifts, shared his love of literature.  And in all he did there was an undertone of introspection, of quietude, of unashamed humility, attitudes that nurture the creative luminescence of a person who comes to terms with things by literally coming to terms with them, by putting life into words. Whether he was sharing observations about the complexities and joys of fatherhood, or hiding inexpertly (by intent) behind the persona of The Word Nerd, Cam invited his readers to come along with him in case anything he had to say might just make sense.  And it always did.

Those of us who have read his published writing will be familiar with that sense of coming to the end of any of dozens of Cam's columns and regretting that there wasn't more; the sense that makes us drag our feet as we near the last chapter of a book that has us in its grasp, a story that we want never to end.  And so it is with this good and gentle man, who, by his death at a mere 55 years, sadly goes from our midst if not our memories, like our dear ones and like all gifted writers, and leaves us wanting more.

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Cam will always be loved and deeply missed by his wife Donella Hoffman and their sons, Joseph and William, as well as by his siblings Guy (Val), Lee (Paulette Lavergne), Jay (Lyla), Anita, Angela (John Miller) and all of their families. He was predeceased by his parents Norman and Rita Fuller. The Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, December 28 at 11 a.m. at St. Anne’s Parish (217 Lenore Drive) in Saskatoon. Donations in Cam’s memory may be made to the University of Alberta, noting your donation is to support the Alberta Transplant Institute-Liver Program. Gifts may be made online by visiting the University of Alberta Transplant Institute website or by sending directly to: Office of Advancement, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, 2J2.00 WC Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre, Edmonton AB, T6G 2R7. Arrangements in care of Chelsea Krentz - MOURNING GLORY FUNERAL SERVICES (306)978-5200