Mary Arlene Fulmer

Arlene was born December 20, 1936 in Union County, Tennessee to parents Amery Porter Hogan and Ruby Pearl Fultz Hogan. She was baptized by her father when she was eleven at their church in West Memphis, Arkansas.

After graduating high school in West Memphis, she attended college at Freed-Hardeman University where she met Robert “Bob” Fulmer who she married in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1959. Their son Robert Jeffrey “Jeff” Fulmer was born while they were living in California, where she completed her Bachelor’s Degree at Pepperdine University. The family moved to Atlanta, Georgia where their second son, James Burton “Burt” Fulmer, was born. The family moved to San Antonio, TX and it was there that she received a Masters Degree at Trinity University.

In 1976, Arlene, Jeff, and Burt moved again; this time to Franklin, TN near Arlene’s sister “Ginny”. In Franklin, Arlene worked as a counselor at the jail and eventually was named State Counseling Coordinator; training counselors across the state to help current and formerly incarcerated individuals navigate life after release.

Arlene felt called to the American Cancer Society and became the Regional Executive Director of the American Cancer Society’s Middle Tennessee Region. She found joy working with cancer survivors, patients who were still in treatment, and in organizing fundraising events such as the Swine Ball and l’Eté du Vin. Arlene remained close with many of her friends and colleagues in Middle Tennessee even after she moved to Collierville, TN to be nearer to her grandchildren.

Arlene was a compassionate and generous person who loved God, her family, and community. She had a passion and talent for serving others and a heart for giving.

Arlene was preceded in death by her parents: Amery Porter Hogan and Ruby Pearl Fults; her siblings; Imajane Fults, Patrick “Lenard” (Margaret) Hogan, Virginia Dare “Ginny” (Clark) Sawdey, Vicie Mozelle (George) Ruff, and Norman Toby Hogan; and her brother-in-law William Earl Fulmer.

Arlene is survived by her sons Robert Jeffrey (Sonja) Fulmer and James Burton (Emily) Fulmer, her two grandchildren Emmett Augustine Fulmer and Ruby Irene Fulmer; siblings Doris Jean Long and Jean Marilyn Hogan; her nieces and nephews, Lee Hogan, Tom Hogan, Susan Naiser, Rebecca “Jane” Anderson, Wayne Ruff, John Robert Ruff, Marilyn “Ann” Bragg, Linda Darnall, and Judy Denman; and her brother-in-law Joseph Fulmer.

Arlene was laid to rest next to her parents at Crittenden Memorial Park Cemetery in Marion, Arkansas.