Katherine Faye Fulton, nee Lunsford
June 19, 1941-November 25, 2023

Katherine Fulton (aka Katie, Kat, Kaye, Kathy, Katherine (say it like Kathereen)) went home to heaven on November 25. She had dreamed of being with Jesus in heaven for such a long time, and now it’s real. Still, it was a surprise. She just didn’t recover from cancer surgery.

She had a twinkle in her eye and a great smile. She was always “put together,” knowing how to combine colors and fabrics. Not that she spent a lot — she was great at thrift shopping, And for a while, she worked at a Salvation Army store. Talk about temptation.

She loved the bling and the shoes. When I asked her why she bought another pair of black shoes, she would say, “But I didn’t have any like these.” She didn’t really know where she got me. We were so different — me with my plain tastes. But somehow her influence caught up with me. I think of her every time I have to cram things down to close an overstuffed dresser drawer

Katherine was creative. She wrote songs, some of them pretty good, and taught herself to play piano by ear. I teased her at times that everything she played sounded like church music, but I think that was a compliment to her.

Another form of her creativity: when my brother and I were small, she buffed her freshly waxed floors by dragging us around on a blanket. We thought it was great fun and looked forward to it. We had no idea she was USING us!

Katherine loved simple pleasures, like good coffee. When she and my dad lived just 1/2 mile from me, I would see them pass by my house, and they would never stop. When I asked her about that, she said “we knew you didn’t have any coffee.” I bought a coffee maker, but I think it was just too late. In more recent years when I visited her in a residential facility, I didn’t dare arrive without coffee. I kind of hated the last few weeks in the skilled nursing facility where I couldn’t bring it.

So, the residential facility…mom had her struggles with mental health. Finding peace and wellness has been a hard thing, and I’d like to think she has it now.

Katherine was born in Antioch, California, and her family moved to McKinleyville when she was about 10 years old. She lived there until she married Earnest Fulton when she was 15, and they moved to Texas when he entered the Air Force. Their children, David and Deborah, were born while they lived there. In the nearly 30 years they were married, they moved back to California, and then to Oklahoma and Washington. She returned to McKinleyville after they divorced, and she lived there, and then in Eureka, until 2020.

Katherine was the oldest child in her family. She is preceded in death by her parents Velva Lunsford (Hammers), Herman Lunsford Sr., and George Martin Dignan as well as by her son, David Fulton, her sisters Doris Lunsford and Patricia Andersen, and her brother, James Dignan.

She is survived by her daughter, Deborah Burdett (Greg); siblings Herman Lunsford, Jr. aka Pete (Juanita), Betty Neely (David), Sharon Cain, Mary Lee Andersen (Glenn), Don Dignan (Betty), Linda Trimm, Kenneth (Marilyn), Irene Hopkins (Jim), Doug Lunsford, Jonathan (Patricia), Carson (Carol), Brad; and grandson Theo Hyde

Katherine will be interred at Ocean View Cemetery. A memorial service will be held Saturday, December 2, at 11 a.m. at New Hope Church of God, 2022 Sutter Road, McKinleyville.

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