I first met David in 1960, when we began teaching at the Middle School in Rochelle,Illinois. He was in my wedding party. Over the years and distance, I and Lois kept in touch with David with phone or short notes. We know he donated much of his time designing and painting the attractive scenes for the Theater Group.   His Christmas cards were carefully selected and always beautiful but he never wrote a note on his beautiful cards.....just his name "David".

These past years I always thought we would have more chances to see David again....that only happened once, when we drove through Illinois, in 1996, and visited him and his mother in their cozy home.
We do know that whenever  we see an exceptionally beautiful greeting card....we will think of our friend, David.

Ray and Lois Austin 
Seattle,  Wa

Celebrating a life well lived. We will cherish the memories forever.

In very sorry fot your loss! May the love of friends and family carry you through your grief. Plesae keep in mind Kohn 5:28 & 29, where you will br comforted by the hope of seeing David again.

For my high school graduation, Dave Fuller gave me a large folder with memorabilia from all of the productions in which I had been involved....5 on stage (2 more would follow) and 4 more in some production capacity. It included scripts, playbills, and photos.

Yesterday I found the folder and relived those wonderful old memories. After graduation that folder was the collection point for items from the subsequent productions....including the playbill from the 1983 production of The Matchmaker, Dave's last show at FCHS. The playbill included a list of all his 38 productions between 1963 and 1983 and a list of every student that had been on that stage....an amazing 307 young men and women had the opportunity to learn from Dave Fuller, experience the butterflies (in my case terror) just prior to the curtain opening, and the adrenaline rush when the curtain closes to an appreciative ovation. More importantly, we all learned to strive for presenting the audience with the highest quality theater experience. And Dave Fullers' productions were pretty darn good for that little stage with limited resources.

He started in 1963, his first year as an art teacher in Fairbury, by staging a Jr. High play, Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. It was my first theater experience and I was hooked!

Our 1968 Sr. play was The Skin of Our Teeth a Thornton Wilder play rarely attempted by high schools at that time....I still have recurring nightmares about forgetting my lines but it was an experience where we learned teamwork, support, and an appreciation for all of the behind the scenes effort required to successfully convey a convincing story to an audience. 

That same year, Dave produced and directed a large PTA sponsored community musical variety show. I have great memories and a lot of pictures of our 8 member high school ensemble. At least to my face, Dave and the 7 other actors were very patient with my inability to carry a tune!

Dave had always wanted to do a musical but the limited resources, small stage, and small pool of actor / singer/ dancers made it impossible in those early years. In 1969, Dave produced and directed the first of 5 non-musical versions of popular Broadway musicals. Liliom is the play on which Carousel was based. He creatively introduced a small selection of musical numbers from the Broadway Show to enhance the audience experience and provide that link the more popular musicals

2 years later we did Green Grow the Lilacs (Oklahoma). In addition to the musical numbers, Dave added 16mm color movie scenes, shot on several locations by Dave Kilgus. The 3 of us spent hours in an editing lab at ISU to get the final footage to meet Dave's' high expectations.

Dave also took a huge risk in 1970 by personally financing summer theater in Fairbury. The first show was Star Spangled Girl by Neil Simon. Roger Haab, Vicki Koehl, and I went on stage opening night in front of an audience of 25 or 30 (mostly relatives) in the +90 degree heat of the non-air conditioned Lincoln school cafeteria. The second night had a slightly larger audience (more of our family members) and was even hotter! The 2nd show planned for that summer was Harvey...it was canceled!

Few appreciated how much Dave personally invested in the shows for his cast and audiences....his sets were meticulously designed, period pieces were accurate, and he added many expensive antiques (many borrowed from various sources)

On a personal note, Dave and I became friends. We saw many productions at ISU and IWU, visited Cleo Degenford's antique store / home in Chenoa ( where I had Cognac for the first time....couldn't stand it), and ultimately traveled to London  with Dave Kilgus in 1972. I was a poor college student so the two Dave's paid my air fare so I could go!
Nancy and I were honored to have Dave read a scripture at our weddinging 1975.

Sadly, we had not kept close to Dave in the last 20 years.....not a fact that I am proud of. Barely 100 miles apart geographically, our worlds had evolved......I regret not having reached out!

Dave Fuller was an extremely talented man. He really cared for those of us fortunate to work with him. Not everyone was a talented actor, but he encouraged each of us to do our best, and was proud of our work! The community of Fairbury and FCHS were so very lucky that he chose to impart his talents for 20 years.......and we are better people for having known him!

Thank you for all the memories, your patience, and the smiles you always had. 
I think of you often and have taught my children go go green and bow wow brown... smiling all the while...
A great man, I wish I would have known as an adult, as well...

What a great pleasure it was to be one of his many cast members of his plays. He always had a way to get the best out of you. It's so unfortunate that as a student you don't really recognize what this mans ability to do for so many of us until we mature and realize the impact he had. We all were very fortunate to be a part of that Fairbury-cropsey school that had a teacher who was truly a teacher for the students..
RIP

For the generations of students at Fairbury-Cropsey High School who grew to love or understand the Arts through David "Mr." Fuller, you will understand how fortunate I feel to have had my youth shaped by his presence in my life.  He was the man who quietly entered our Isaac Walton classroom on November 22, 1963 to break the news to Mrs. Beer and a ragtag group of vulnerable third graders that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated.  I remember both individuals exuded a sensitivity and concern which demonstrated to youngsters how adults conduct themselves with humanity in challenging times.  Through their behaviors, we felt the graveness of the situation and, therefore, conducted ourselves accordingly that day in the classroom (not sayin' we did that EVERY day ;).

Over the years, Mr. Fuller brought art into our grade school and middle school classrooms.  When we were over-exuberant, he could peer over the glasses on the end of his nose, focus a measured glance, and bring masses of energetic students back on task with his singular tractor-beam vision.

I also remember the day when I learned that my art teacher was also my sister's high school play director!  And what a director/producer he was!  It was only after I left FCHS that I truly began to appreciate 1) how he had instilled the love of the theatre in me and 2) the unique talents and remarkable commitment he brought to the town's high school theatrical experiences!  I hope someone can post an exhaustive list of the plays and musicals this one-man dynamo shepherded hundreds of FCHS students through:  Barefoot in the Park, The Bad Seed, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown; Matchmaker; Oklahoma; Glass Menagerie; Star-Spangled Girl; The Importance of Being Earnest; etc.  This was way back when there was no movie theatre in town and just three television channels (all controlled by Dad).    Mr. David Fuller gave me my first glimpse of a bigger, more complex, tapestry of a world  I will be forever grateful.

I ran into him about 15 years ago at a garden supply store in Bloomington-Normal and had the opportunity to thank him for his very positive influence.  I thought I would keep in touch, but  sadly  I did not.  I am  appropriately  reminded of words from one score in the musical Hamilton.  When my time is up, will I have done enough?  Will they tell my story?

Thank you, Mr. David Fuller, for letting me be just one of many who will tell your extraordinary story.

May God's loving kindness comfort you and help you through this very sad time
Psalms 29:11

OBITUARY

David L Fuller

March 7, 1938 – January 24, 2018

East Lawn Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens

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