Donal Dean Fulton

January 10, 1932 – January 15, 2017

Farm boy, soldier, husband, father, civil engineer, golfer, friend.

All these things and more, Donal Dean attached a great deal of importance to every role he played in his 85 years among us.

Known as Dean to the community he grew up in, Dad was the youngest of three sons born at home on the Fulton farm south of Sewal in Wayne County, Iowa to Hazel and Samuel Fulton. He was well known in the region for his basketball playing and was the bus driver for the community school, using a team of work horses when the going got difficult.

1955 was an eventful year – he volunteered for the army, he married Mom (Darlene), and was trained as a medic at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio He was sent to Ft. Chaffee in Arkansas. Due to an overabundance of medics, he was sent to the Officers Mess hall where he became eligible to go to cook school and became a cook. He would tell of cooking turkeys and nibbling so much during the carving that he couldn't eat when it was his turn to go through the line.

After his discharge, he enrolled at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. Next, he enrolled at Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa) where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering and the first two of Mom and Dad's three sons were born – Roger and Philip.

After graduation, Dad had several positions with local and county government when their third son, Kirk, was born in Knoxville, Iowa while Dad was working for the Marion County Roads Department. Eventually, he was hired by the Army Corps of Engineers to work at the Rock Island Arsenal in Rock Island, Illinois. This led to his multi-decade career supporting veterans as first, an Engineering Officer, then as a Fire and Safety Inspector working for the Department of Veteran's Affairs (originally the Veteran's Administration) in various places around the country, from the Appalachian Mountains, to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Canadian border to the Gulf.

Once he finally retired, he and Mom moved to Georgetown to be closer to his sons in central Texas, where they have been very active supporting and participating in several civic and religious groups. Georgetown Church of the Nazarene has been their spiritual home since they moved to Georgetown in 1992 and both have been part of the Central Texas chapter of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees group, as members and as officers.

Donal Dean is survived by his wife, Darlene of Georgetown, Texas; son, Roger and his wife Jan of Austin, Texas and her daughter, Tammy of Euless, Texas; son, Philip and his wife Deborah and grandson, Adam of Austin, Texas; son, Kirk and his wife Sabrina, of Killeen, Texas and grandchildren, Triston of Indianapolis, Indiana and Caitlyn of Manchester, New Hampshire. He is also survived by his brother, Charles Lyle Fulton and his wife Leta of Des Moines, Iowa.

He will be greatly missed by all who knew him and loved him.

A Celebration of our father's life will at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, January 21, 2017 at the Georgetown Church of the Nazarene in Georgetown, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: Georgetown Church of the Nazarene Building Fund, 4051 East University Avenue, Georgetown, Texas 78626.

Arrangements under the direction of Cook-Walden Davis Funeral Home, 2900 Williams Drive, Georgetown, Texas 78628 (512)863-2564.