Gaye Harriss Fuller

In the hot mid-afternoon of September 4, 2023, heaven got louder. After 89 years of adventure, toil, merriment, and histrionics, Gaye Fuller had arrived, pent up from a recent respiratory illness that had impacted her ability to talk.

Upon arrival, she was greeted by many who had preceded her, including her siblings, ancestors, her husband of fifty years, Bill Fuller, and their eldest son of the same name. Bill the Elder was certainly glad to see her after fifteen years of not knowing what to order in any of heaven’s many restaurants. Bill the Younger, of Indiana, was equally happy to turn over the keeping of his father back to his mother, and doubtless wondering when the wine would be served.

That would have to wait, she told them, until surviving children Mary Fuller of Fort Worth and Bob Fuller of Parker County, along with several of Bill and Gaye’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren, could return from the long-planned vacation their matriarch had insisted they not cancel for her health. When the dreaded news reached them, they continued on, for not only were they dutiful children who always listened to their mother, weeping over her in a hospital room was something she emphatically did not want. Much better, in her mind, to be together, to cry some, to laugh much, to toast her and tell stories of her life, mostly made up.

Capturing a life that started on December 13, 1933, and one well lived, in a few paragraphs is impossible. Growing up in the Great Depression when Fort Worth was a small burg, finding and marrying her husband of fifty years, raising children, spoiling grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all make it difficult to know where to start or end. She was president of both the Junior Woman’s Club and Woman’s Club of Fort Worth, active in FWISD (teacher, Human Relations Committee), countless administrative and leadership roles in Eastern Hills UMC and First UMC of Fort Worth, volunteer in the local RIF program, Meals on Wheels, and at the First Street Mission. She impacted so many with her warmth and humor.

She is perhaps best known for what was one of her darkest hours. When informed that her husband had been killed by a driver fumbling for his cell phone, she offered immediate concern that the 20-year-old not suffer the accident, but told the Star-Telegram that he should “live his life and live it good.”

So, to mark the close of her chapter, do what she would do. Sit around, glass of wine or not, and talk. Tell of the funny things she said, the dubious things she did. Make one another laugh. For those that want more, donate to the First Street Mission (https://fumcfw.org/mission), the Center for Transforming Lives, or whatever entity brings hope and help to those that need it.

Gaye Fuller’s legacy is far more than funny stories. It is one of words backed by action, guided by caring.

We miss her already.

A Memorial Service for Gaye will be held on Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 1:00 PM at First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth, located at 800 West 5th Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76102.