Gerald Eugene Fuller

Jerry was born on September 26, 1935, to the late Margaret Elizabeth Siefkas and William Vernon Fuller, on a farm in Clarke County, Iowa, about six miles south of Murray. He was raised on the farm with four sisters and one brother, all whom preceded Jerry in death. His fondest memory of the farm was the day he finally got to drive a tractor. Jerry attended a one room country school until high school.

After graduation, Jerry attended Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa). He taught sixth grade for two years, when he discovered the US Air Force was paying more than a teacher salary. He joined the US Air Force in 1956, and upon completing basic training in California and Air Weather School in Illinois, he was assigned to the 7th Weather Group, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska. While serving, the weather center was closed, and he was transferred to a radar station at Cape Lisburne, 200 miles north of the Artic Circle. This was considered oversea duty, as Alaska was not a state at that time. In 1958, he was transferred to the 3rd Weather Wing, Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska.

While stationed in Alaska, he met a fellow Iowan, who was engaged to a lady in Iowa that just happened to be a roommate of his future wife, Beverly. They started writing letters to each other, and when he returned from Alaska, they met and were married on August 1, 1959, and resided in Omaha, Nebraska. After his discharge from the Air Force in June of 1960, he attended the University of Omaha (now University of Nebraska at Omaha), receiving a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1963. He then started working with Ernst Young Public Accountants in Des Moines, Iowa, receiving his Certified Public Accountant Certificate in 1965.

In 1974, Jerry begam working with Martin Materials in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where in 1981, he was transferred to Des Moines where he stayed until being transferred in 1985 to the Raleigh Office, as Manager of Internal Auditing (this is how he became a Carolinian). He retired in 2002, and became active as a volunteer at Duke Raleigh Hospital until 2020.

In December of 2024, Jerry and Beverly moved to Springmoor, where he became involved in several committees. His favorite committee was the Woodshop, where he started a project "Toys for Kids". The residents that worked in the woodshop made wooden toys, and other residents painted them. From 2005-2008, the project produced over 1200 toys, which were given to the Salvation Army, to be delivered to children at Christmas.

In addition to his wife of over 66 years Beverly Marie Atkins Fuller; daughter, Kathy Estrada, and her husband, Steve, of Fairfield, Iowa; son, Vernon Fuller, and his wife, Maureen, of Rock Hill, SC; grandchildren, Alexander Schmidt, and his wife, Brenda, of Beacon, NY, Kevin Schmidt Tanager, and his wife, Claire, of Durham, NC, Pamela Beekman, and her husband, Aaron, of York, SC, Shannon Briesemeister, and her husband, Scott, of Simpsonville, SC, Charles Fuller, of Pembroke, NC; and great-grandchildren, Wyatt, Rhodes, and Marlowe Beekman, Henry Briesemeister, Theo Tanager, and baby Schmidt, expected in March.

Services will be private. The family would like to thank the staffs at the Stewart Health Center, as well as Transitions Hospice for their compassion and care.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Springmoor Endowment Fund, or Transitions LifeCare, by using the links below, under 'Donations'.

If you would like to leave a favorite story / memory of Jerry, or a message of condolence for his family, you may do so below, within 'Add a Memory'.