Dorothy Lucile Fulton

Dorothy Lucile Fulton of Norman, Oklahoma, entered peacefully into eternal rest on October 7, 2021 at the age of 86. Dorothy was born at the home of her parents, Howard Taft Throneburg and Iola Mae Cook-Throneburg, in Burke County, North Carolina on June 19, 1935. Her mother, Iola, was assisted in childbirth by a midwife named Lucille Beach Poteat, hence the middle name Lucile – one of the l’s was omitted by the doctor who recorded the birth, and Dorothy simply chose to keep it that way.

As a child, Dorothy was influenced greatly by her mother, who worked full-time to support the family during her early childhood. At three years-old, Dorothy recalls the day her family moved into a house in Startown, North Carolina that her grandfather, George, built. Dorothy grew up in the community of Startown, where she attended school from 1st through 12th grade. Her graduating class, the Class of 1953, was the last high school class to graduate from there.

After high school, Dorothy joined the WAVES - Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service - a division of the U.S. Navy. She took basic training at Bainbridge, Maryland. She also took additional training in Jacksonville, Florida, and then later in Millington, Tennessee. While attending Aviation Electronics Technician school in Millington, Dorothy met William Gordon Fulton, who was in her class. They were married on April 17, 1954, at a ceremony in Millington, Tennessee. In July of that year, after discovering that she was six weeks pregnant, Dorothy was discharged from the Navy.

Together Dorothy and Bill had two sons and two daughters, Wayne Arthur, Billy Joe, Cathrine Jewel, and Rebecca Ann. Dorothy and Bill later moved their little family to California, where Bill’s parents lived. Dorothy went to work for Hallimore Electronics, and Bill worked for Beckman Instruments.

In 1961, after a series of lifechanging and meaningful meetings with LDS Missionaries, Dorothy and Bill were baptized by the missionaries in Anaheim, California and became members of the Buena Park Ward. Dorothy and Bill were Sealed for Time and for All Eternity in February of 1962, ensuring their family would be together forever in the afterlife.

She later helped to raise her grandchildren, Danny and Amy Smethurst. She was always there for all her grandchildren and for her community. She was a wonderful cook, baker, seamstress, and always serving others.  She will be greatly missed by many she has touched.

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