Mary A. Fuller

Mary was a legal secretary at Missouri Pacific Railroad for 11 years. She also worked as a realtor, and for the Collinsville Unit 10 School District in the Media Services Department, for the Collinsville Water Department, for attorney Michael Katz, and kept the Collinsville Fire Dept. running like a well-oiled machine while she served as its secretary.

Mary was an active member of various churches in the area—First Christian Church of Collinsville, Chapel Hill Christian Church of Fairview Hgts., First Baptist Church of Collinsville, First Baptist Church of Maryville and University Baptist Church of Glen Carbon—where she devoted her time and energy to children’s church, adult literacy programs and building up their libraries.

She also participated in many community service activities, including the PTA, Girl Scouts and the Anderson Hospital Ladies Auxiliary. She and Tom were proud to have the family name on the wall of contributors who helped bring a sorely-needed hospital to the area.

Mary enjoyed traveling, something she was able to do by rail while working for Missouri Pacific. After she and Tom had children, they traveled near and far in their pop-up campers. She and Tom also enjoyed square dancing, and they whirled through classes and dances with various clubs in the area. Once Tom retired, the travel bug bit Mary again and they went on many bus tours with friends. Anyone who knew Mary, knew how much she enjoyed crocheting, and she will always be remembered as the founder of the Mats & Hats group at Meridian Village, where they crochet strips of “yarn” from plastic shopping bags into sleeping mats for the homeless.

Mary will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her. Survivors left to cherish her memory include her daughters, Suzanne (Steve) Hartmann and Lori Fuller and three grandchildren, Andrew, David (Elisabeth) and Rachel Hartmann. Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Ida Govan; husband, Tom Fuller; sisters, LaVerne Bertucci, Corinne Hentz and Carol Govan; companion of twelve years, Wayne Wilson and her beloved dog, Sassie.

Funeral service will be held on Friday, October 13, 2023 at 12:00 pm in Lake View Funeral Home, 5000 N. Illinois St., Fairview Heights, IL 62208, with visitation from 10:00 am until time of service. Interment to follow in Lake View Memorial Gardens. Memorial contributions can be made to the Maryville Library, where Mary served as a volunteer, passionate that even a small town such as Maryville needed a library for its citizens.