William "Bill" John Fulton

William Fulton, 90, of Bemidji, MN died Sunday, January 28, 2018 at Sanford Bemidji Medical Center.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m., Saturday, February 3, 2018 at St. Philip’s Catholic Church with Fr. Don Braukmann officiating. Family will greet friends one hour prior to the service at the church.  There will be a Knights of Columbus Rosary at 9:00 a.m. at the church. Interment will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Bemidji. Arrangements were entrusted to the Olson-Schwartz Funeral Home, Bemidji.

Honorary Bearers will be Robin Gullickson, Helen Russell, George Dahl, Jeff Sande, Gary Borgen, Mike Kelly, Rick Demery, Marti & Pat Huiras, Rita & Paul Malterud and his friends and family at Perkins.

Casket Bearers will be Tim Gullickson, Bob Aultman, Tom Strassburg, Jeff Zigan, Tony Richer, and Sandy Stough.

William “Bill” John Fulton was born to Anna (Kanthack) and William James Fulton in Shreveport, Louisiana on February 3, 1927.  When William was only 3 ½ years old, his father was murdered by a disgruntled fellow employee whom was fired due to the impending economic depression of the 1930’s. Mother and son then moved to Waddington, New York, where his father was buried near the Fulton Family farm.  They spent the next year in New York with Fulton family relatives before returning to Bluffton, Minnesota where his mother Anna had grown up.  Those were happy days, where many friends were made as young “Billy” attended St. John’s Parochial School in Bluffton.  Mother Anna married Frank Langer and the family eventually moved to Wadena. Bill attended Wadena High School until his junior year, when the family traveled to Anaconda, Montana for a year.  While there Bill was part of a championship Anaconda High School Football team.  His senior year found him back at Wadena High School until January of 1945 when Bill entered WWII as part of the United States Navy, serving on the U.S.S. Bountiful Hospital ship in the Asian Pacific until his honorable discharge in January 1946 as a Yeoman 3rd Class. William then furthered his education at St. Cloud State Teacher’s College from 1946-1948.  He transferred to Bowling Green State University in Ohio and graduated in 1950 with a major in Business Administration.  He belonged to Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity with his friend Dick Sterner. On August 11, 1952 Bill married his sweetheart, Margaret Anderson in Bluffton, Minnesota at St. John’s Catholic Church.  The young couple moved to Minneapolis so Bill could work for the State of Minnesota Employment Service and in 1955 he transferred to Bemidji, Minnesota where Bill continued working for the Employment Service until his retirement in 1985.  He was active in the American Legion, Knights of Columbus for 71 years and Aerie #351 Eagles Club. Bill and Margaret (Peggy) celebrated 59 years of marriage and enjoyed numerous years of golfing, until her death in August of 2011.  Into their family, they welcomed 6 children; Bill and Peggy were proud to say they had 2 carpenters and 4 teachers in their family.  

Bill is survived by two sons; Bill (Patty Dow) Fulton of Butte, MT and Rick (Patti Sims) Fulton of Dewey, MT and four daughters; Betty (Larry*deceased) Novotney of Seneca, IL, Jean (Gary) Weyer of Menahga, MN, Joan (Robert) Engle of Forsyth, MT, and Bea Stough of Onida, SD.  Bill also has 12 grandchildren (Melynda, Nicholas, C.J., Debbie, Kathy, Molly, Brielle, Seth, Delanie, Andrea, Anna and Kayla) and 12 great grandchildren (Logan, Lilly, Paige, Noelle, Tucker, Carter, Chase, Lauren, Zaley, Jeremiah, Aria, and Raiden) and step great grandson Mason.

Online guestbook at www.OlsonSchwartzFuneralHome.com

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