Barbara Fulton

Barbara Ann Fulton died on October 6, 2014 at the Agrace HospiceCare Center in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, following a brief illness. She was born on October 16, 1927 in Atchison, Kansas, the daughter of Russell Drake and Winona Welton. Barb attended the University of Minnesota, receiving a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1949 and a master's degree in social work in 1951. She married Wallace Fulton in 1948, and the couple moved to Stamford, Connecticut, in 1955, where Barb lived for 57 years until moving in 2012 to the Capitol Lakes community in Madison, Wisconsin, to be closer to her children.
In addition to her primary focus of raising her family, Barb had a deep devotion to community service expressed through her professional career and her volunteerism. As a teenager, Barb served during World War II in the Women's Land Army, detasseling corn in Minnesota. Once her children reached school age, Barb began her career as a social worker for the newly formed Head Start Program. In 1971 she began working for the Greenwich, Connecticut, Department of Social Services, retiring in 1992 as Director, Aging and Adult Divisions. The many organizations in Stamford that benefited from her volunteer efforts include the League of Women Voters, the local Democratic Party, the West Main Street Community Center, the Adopt-A-House Program and the Ferguson Public Library. For many years, she also tutored recent immigrants in speaking and reading English.
Barb had a wide range of interests, including current affairs, classical music, theater (especially Shakespeare), visual art and science. She traveled broadly during her life, both overseas and in the U.S. Annual summer camping trips took the family to every state (except Hawaii) and all of Canada. Her favorite place in the world was the family summer cabin on Star Island in Cass Lake, Minnesota.
Barb is survived by her sister, Elizabeth (Betty) Mosedale of New York City, her three children--Scott (Karen Agee) of Middleton, Wisconsin; Jean (Steve Coates) of West Dundee, Illinois; and Mark (Wendy Greenberg) of Bemidji, Minnesota--as well as four grandchildren: William, Colin, Lily and Joshua.
A public memorial service will be held in at Capitol Lakes, 333 W Main Street, Madison, WI at 3:30 pm on Saturday, November 1. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Barb's honor to the League of Women Voters ( www.lwv.org ).