Ilse Barda Fuller

Ilse Barda Fuller died on February 25, 2020, at the age of 98. She had been a resident of Westminster-Canterbury Richmond since 1997, twelve years after moving to Richmond with her husband the Rev. Dr. Reginald H. Fuller. Ilse Fuller was born in Vienna, Austria, on November 28, 1921. She moved to England in 1939 and met her husband through a German-speaking group in London. They married on June 17, 1942 and lived in Derbyshire, where Dr. Fuller was a parish priest. Their move to Birmingham in 1946, to divide his time between a parish and a theological college, began the family’s transition to academia. Their next moves were to St. David’s College, in Lampeter, Wales, and then to seminaries in the United States: Evanston, New York City, and Alexandria, VA. In Evanston, Ilse worked as Director of Christian Education at St. Mark’s Church and for Northwestern University Libraries, in positions that called for her knowledge of German Language. She contributed to her husband’s translations of German works in the field of theology and she credited as co-translator on several volumes including The new Testament: A Guide to its Writings by Gunther Bornkamm (1973). She worked in the seminary bookstores at Union Theological Seminary and Virginia Seminary. She is mostly ---and warmly---remembered for her hospitality and generosity, wherever they lived. Episcopal seminaries and churches are a crossroads for interesting visitors. Students appreciated invitations for home cooking, and at Union, the Fullers hosted weekly breakfasts for Episcopal students after the weekly Eucharist, where the conversation flowed. She delighted in showing visitors to Richmond the highlights of the city, tours that often preceded a dinner with local friends. She helped international students and their families acclimate to the US and after they returned to Uganda and Kenya made collections of eyeglasses and clothing to send to these clergy in Uganda and Kenye for distribution. When the time came to move to Westminster-Canterbury, she became an avid volunteer in that community. Among her activities were visits health care residents, often leaving a small floral arrangement that she made. She was seldom without a knitting project. Her family and friends were well supplied with sweaters, scarves, mitten and caps. In her later years she developed little stuffed “Fuller dolls,” given to her grandchildren and anyone else who had a recipient in mind. She taught many to knit, and Emmanuel Church named its knitting group to honor her. With her knitting, she was a fixture by husband‘s side during his active role in retirement as preacher and speaker for many area groups and churches as well as nationally and internationally. Ilse was awarded an honorary LHD, a doctorate in humane letters, by Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin, where she dove in as a volunteer and mentor to the community during her husband’s semesters as visiting faculty. Ilse Fuller was the mother of three. Her daughters, Caroline Fuller Sloat and Sarah Jane Fuller survive her, as do her four grandchildren and eight grandsons. She was predeceased by her husband and her daughter, Rosemary Bazuzi. She will be remembered for her warm smile, her bright blue eyes, her wit and her hospitality. Her family is grateful to the staff of Mary Morton Parsons Health Care Center at Westminster-Canterbury and to her team of caregivers, especially Mucie. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be sent to the Westminster Canterbury- fellowship Fund, 1600 Westbrook Avenue, Richmond Va 23227, or Emmanuel Church, 1214 Wilmer Ave, Richmond, 23227, or charity of your choice. A service will be held at Westminster Canterbury’s Montague Chapel on March 25 at 2pm. Interment will be at convenience of the family.