Eleanor Alice Fullerton

On February 15, 2015, Eleanor Fullerton died peacefully in her sleep after ninety-nine wonderful years of life. Eleanor Alice McDonnell was born in her parents’ home in Singac, New Jersey on May 31, 1915. Her father, Peter J. McDonnell, was an Irish immigrant whose hard work and commitment to education helped him rise from streetcar conductor to the “Million Dollar Club” of successful Metropolitan Life salesmen. Her mother, Elizabeth Toole McDonnell, was a pianist, teacher, and top-notch baker. Eleanor taught herself to read and at an early age was desperate to go to school. Too young for first grade, she visited her sister Margaret’s second grade class one day for a party. When the parish priest stopped by the party, Eleanor volunteered to read and didn’t pause until she finished the entire story. After this tour de force, the pastor made an exception to the age requirement, and Eleanor enrolled in first grade the next day.

She was an outstanding student from the start. She won a scholarship to attend Montclair State College during the Depression and successfully majored in Mathematics. She did graduate work in Mathematics at Columbia and New York University; taught Mathematics in high school; and later – three decades later – earned a graduate degree in Library Science from the University of Virginia and became a school librarian. She married a fellow teacher, LeRoy Robert Fullerton, in 1942 and when he became a career Army officer she embarked with him on a life of travel and exploration. Together, she and Roy and their six children lived in Hawaii, Alaska, New Jersey, Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, Germany, and Virginia. Wherever they went, Eleanor would learn the local history, help improve the schools, and contribute to the local parish. In Hawaii and Germany she studied new languages. She was committed to her Roman Catholic faith, her Irish heritage, and her belief that education was the most important treasure she could pass on to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Full of energy, gregarious, and extremely well organized, Eleanor filled leadership roles everywhere she lived. She was active in the Women of St. James, Churchwomen United, and she headed multiple Parent-Teacher Organizations. She was a strong supporter of women’s rights. She was a woman of great compassion, with special concern for the vulnerable and those in need. She was a voracious reader and also found time to become skilled in quilting, knitting, crocheting, and other artistic endeavors. Most of all, she loved her family and friends. She was the unofficial welcoming committee in every neighborhood she lived in, and she happily enmeshed the neighbors in the extended Fullerton household. As the last of her generation of the McDonnells, she was the proud matriarch and repository of family history.

She had a long and happy life. She pursued an education when that was difficult for young women; she saw the world with her six children in tow. Hearing from her innumerable friends and family members always energized her, and, to the end, she was interested in how her visitors and caretakers were doing.

She is survived by her six children (Lee, Maryellen, Don, Terry, Beth, and Brian) and their spouses, fourteen grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and a multitude of nephews, nieces, cousins, and friends.

The family will receive family and friends at Murphy’s Funeral Home, 1102 West Broad Street, Falls Church, VA, 22046, on Friday, February 27th, from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. James Church, 905 Park Avenue, Falls Church, VA on Saturday, February 28th at 10:00 a.m. At a later date, she will be buried with her husband at Arlington National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Catholic Charities @ http://catholiccharitiesusa.org/