Martha Jane Fullerton (Bolivar)'s Obituary
Martha Jane Fullerton, the third of five children of Donald Raif “Jerry” and Grace Jane Hargis Fullerton, was born October 19, 1929, in Polk County, Missouri. She passed away September 7 at the age of 82.
Jane lived her entire life in or near Bolivar. She attended one-room rural schools and graduated from Bolivar High School, where she was a member of the Bolivar High School Hall of Fame. She attended Southwest Baptist University and earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Southwest Missouri State University. She also earned two master’s degrees — one in administration and one in guidance and counseling — from Drury University, where she was awarded a Drury Alumni University Award for service to education. She taught in a one-room rural school for three years and at Morrisville for three years. She then taught for 40 years in the Bolivar school system, retiring in 1993.
For more than 60 years, she was a member of the Missouri State Teachers Association, where she was chosen 1988 MSTA Leader of the Year. For more than 50 years, she was a member of Kappa Kappa Iota, a teacher service sorority. In her later years, she was a member of the Missouri Retired Teachers Association, where she served as state president of both the MRTA Association and MRTA Foundation.
At an early age, she accepted Jesus Christ as her savior. At the time of her death, she was one of the oldest members of the Mount Gilead United Methodist Church.
Jane was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers, Robert Eugene Fullerton and his wife, Marjorie Ball Fullerton, and Donald Dean Fullerton. She is survived by two sisters, Mary Ellen Fullerton, with whom she resided, and Lucinda Lee Fullerton Stewart and her husband, Glenn, of Bolivar. She also is survived by nine nieces and nephews:
• Bob’s daughters, Marilyn, and her husband, Roy Albin, and their children Marcie, Kelsey and Andy of Bolivar; and Carolyn and her husband, Clint McAllister, and their son Kyle of Springfield.
• Cindy’s sons, Jerry Dale Stewart, and his wife, Trudy, step-daughter Jennifer, husband John Lamosi and son, Jacob; and step-daughter Heather, all of Springfield; and Terry Glenn Stewart and his wife, Ronda, and daughters Addie and Emma, of Bolivar.
• Don’s children, Jane Ellen, and her husband, Terry Lemons, and their children Benjamin and Sarah, of Bristow, Va.; Leslie and her husband, Jim Hutter, and their children Tate, Hayes, Gibbs and Tess, of Republic; Betsy and her husband, Stewart Eckols, and their sons Blace and Trey, of England, and their daughter, Alexandra, of Lubbock, Tex.; Jeffrey and his wife, Tommi Fullerton, and their children Logan, Raif, Reed and Rhett, of Bolivar; and Jennifer and her husband, Jim Ernst, and their daughter Carly, of Bedford, Ia.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation Endowment or the Mount Gilead United Methodist Church.
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