Furman Haskell Fullingim

Furman H. Fullingim was born on 14 March 1908, the first of five children born to John Wade and Myrtle Alice (Lowe) Fullingim. Wade and Myrtle were living in a log cabin nine miles west of Ada, Oklahoma, near Big Sandy Creek when Furman was born. He was first enumerated in 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Midland Twp, of Pontotoc Co., at age two. He and his younger siblings grew up within three adjacent counties in southern Oklahoma--Pontotoc Co., Atoka Co., and Johnston Co. Furman completed only an eighth grade education, and in the process he attended six different schools--due to the combination of hard economic times and his father's misuse of alcohol that necessitated keeping the family on the move.

Sometime during the mid to late 1920s, his family migrated through western Oklahoma where other extended family members were residing and farming cotton. By the 1930 U.S. Federal Census the family was residing in Van Twp, in Major Co., west of Ringwood, OK, where Furman, age 22, helped his father introduce cotton as tenant farmers. The Fullingims farmed the quarter owned by Fred McClure, just south of Michael Frickel's 160-acre homestead. They attended the Carwile Wesleyan Methodist Church, which was centrally located in this rural community of German farmers.

When Furman's parents and younger siblings returned to Antlers, Oklahoma, in the mid-1930s, Furman stayed in the Ringwood area, continued attending the Carwile Church, and on November 26, 1939, he married one of the Frickel girls, Irma Stella Frickel. The marriage was performed in Ponca City, Oklahoma, by Furman's uncle, the Rev. John Bond, who was the husband of Frances Delitha Fullingim. Their marriage was witnessed by two of Furman's first cousins, Opal Bond and Syble Bond. Shortly after their marriage Furman and Irma moved from the Frickel homestead to Enid, Oklahoma--30 miles east--where they lived, raised two sons--Dean Roy (1944) and John Michael (1948), and made their until Furman died in late 1974.

Furman was employed by Pillsbury Mills for the first few years in Enid, then the Frisco Railroad hired him to work as a switchman and then as a brakeman from 1944 until his retirement on November 16, 1973. At one point in time the Frisco Railroad sent him off to a mechanics program for steam locomotives, but he was not able to pursue this profession on the railroad because diesel locomotives began antiquating the steam-powered engines, which soon caused the Frisco Roundhouse in Enid to be closed and all repair operations were moved to Tulsa. Because Furman had moved so many times during his own childhood, he refused to moved the family to Tulsa so that he might continue his work in the Roundhouse, preferring instead to stay on in Enid to provide a more stable homelife, even though it meant that he would be "on the road" frequently working as a brakeman for freight trains, running either from Enid east to Tulsa, Oklahoma, or else from Enid south to Snyder, Oklahoma.

He was a member of the First Wesleyan (Methodist) Church and the Berean Sunday School Class. Furman had a keen sense of humor and never met a stranger. He was quite adept with his hands and had a good mind though he had never received much formal education. He was kind-hearted to neighbors, especially to elderly widows who had difficulty in keeping their lawns mowed. He expected his sons to mow those yards for no pay; he provided the law mower and edger and the petrol, and the "volunteer" labor--especially when he was frequently out of town on his railroad runs.

After a year-long bout with carcinoma of the colon and eventual renal failure, Furman died on Saturday, November 2, 1974, at a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at age sixty-six. He was preceded in death by his father, John Wade Fullingim, and a brother, A.L. Fullingim, who was killed in action during World War II in the Battle of Kula Gulf, Solomon Islands.

Survivors included his wife Irma of the home at 1514 E. Maine; two sons, Dean and Michael and two grandchildren; his mother, Mrs. Myrtle Fullingim, a brother Paul Fullingim and two sisters, Mrs. Floyd (Irene) McDonald and Mrs. E.L. (Marie) Leatherwood, all of Oklahoma City.

Funeral services for Furman H. Fullingim, 66, were conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday [5 Nov 1974] in the First Wesleyan Church with the Rev. Max A. Colaw officiating and pastor, Rev. Armon Newborn, Assembly of God-Tulsa, assisting. Interment was in the Memorial Park Cemetery, Enid, OK, under the direction of the Henninger-Allen Funeral home. Memorials were made to the First Wesleyan Church of Enid, with the church or the funeral home as custodian. (Bio was based in part on the published obituary, Enid [OK] Morning News, 4 Nov 1974)

NOTE: My father's middle has always been somewhat of a mystery. On every document I have found, his name was always recorded merely as Furman H. Fullingim. My memory has always lead me to believe the "H." stood for "Howard," though in only one of my mother's written records, I discovered that she had written dad's middle name as "Haskell." After all these years, the answer was on my own birth certificate—"Furman Haskell Fullingim." My father was indeed named after the first governor of the state of Oklahoma, Governor Charles N. Haskell.

PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS: Isaac Foster Fullingim Martha Ann (Golden) Fullingim

MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS William Erwin "Bill" Lowe Ellena Josephine "Leny" (Russell) Lowe