Robert Fulton

PATTON, Mo. -- Robert (Bob) Edward Fulton, 86, died Sunday, July 29, 2018, at Perryville, Missouri, within weeks of a stomach and liver cancer diagnosis.

Bob was born Sept. 8, 1931, in St. Louis, the oldest son of Hadley James Fulton and Gleta Miinch Fulton. Bob grew up on a farm near Patton and after graduating from high school, taught for four years in one-room schools in the Patton area.

On May 10, 1952, Bob married Norma Maxine Heitman, and joined the U.S. Army, serving until his honorable discharge in 1954. Bob received a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Education from Southeast Missouri State College in 1956. Thereafter he worked in the Washington, D.C., area for the U.S. Navy, Atomic Energy Commission and the State Department, with a focus on the nation's military and nuclear programs.

While working full-time, Bob received a law degree in 1964 at American University and went on to pass the Maryland bar. Around this time, Bob also obtained his Masters in Business Administration from George Washington University.

In 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King and after viewing the street riots in Washington from his window at the State Department, Bob felt a call to work on poverty issues. Thereafter he was appointed community action director in the Chicago office of the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity. In 1970, Bob was appointed OEO's regional director for New England. In 1973, Bob became regional director for New England for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford appointed Bob, with U.S. Senate confirmation, as administrator of the Social and Rehabilitation Service, the welfare part of the Department of Health Education and Welfare. After the 1976 election, Bob served on the staff for the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, working with then Oklahoma Sen. Henry Bellmon. In 1981, Bob became chief counsel for the Budget Committee.

In 1983, Bob was appointed director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. where he served until 1987. Bob was then appointed cabinet secretary of Social Services in Oklahoma by then-Gov. Bellmon. Bob retired in 1991, and he and Maxine returned to the log home they had built a few years earlier near Patton.

From 1995 to 1999, Bob served as executive director of the East Missouri Action Agency. After that, Bob confined his activities to family and community work, including the Patton Lions Club and at two United Methodist Churches near Patton. Shortly before his death, Bob was awarded the Lion Club's most prestigious award, The Melvin Jones Fellowship Award. Bob was also very active with the Will Mayfield Heritage Foundation in Marble Hill, Missouri.

Bob is survived by his wife of 66 years, Norma Maxine Heitman Fulton of Patton. Three sons survive, Robin Fulton (Karen) of Fredericktown, Missouri, Scott Fulton (Sasha) of Baltimore and Kenton Fulton (Jenny) of Edmond, Oklahoma. Robin is associate circuit court judge for Madison County, Missouri. Scott retired after service as the general counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; earlier he served as a judge on EPA's Environmental Appeals Board. Kenton is an administrative law judge with the Social Security Administration and formerly served on the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Court.

Bob had six surviving grandchildren. One grandson, Jacob Hadley Fulton, pre-deceased Bob. Seven great-grandchildren survive Bob's passing. Three brothers also survive Bob's passing.

Bob's passions included bluegrass music and he was a lifelong history buff. Bob was a larger-than-life patriarch of his family, a man of endless optimism and energy. He was a two-time cancer survivor (ultimately succumbing the third time), who was always hopeful, inquisitive and full of endless energy. Most of all, he was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend, who devoted his life to the service of others. Our loss is great, but God is greater.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Liley Funeral Home in Patton.

Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, Bob himself requested contributions be made to the Will Mayfield Heritage Foundation in Marble Hill, Missouri.