Richard Paul Fulton, 81, of Pittsburg, died Sept. 20, 2026, in Pittsburg.
He was born Oct. 10, 1944, in Decatur, Illinois, the son of Paul H. and Gertrude M. Pence Fulton. He married Lorella Spickert on Dec. 25, 1970, she died on July 15, 2023.
Welcome Home was the phrase Dad wanted to hear when he got back from Vietnam. It is the phrase I hope Mom greeted him with when she met him at the Pearly gates last night.
Rick Fulton passed away peacefully in his sleep late Sunday after a hard fight with a particularly nasty form of mouth cancer. Ever a man of service, Dad served his country, community, and family proudly.
He was a Veteran, artist, historian, speechwriter, police officer, public affairs officer, writer, photographer, teacher, and concerned citizen. To many, he was Rick or Frog or Ricky. To me he was just Dad.
Dad reshaped his street kid origins by joining the Air Force at 17. His early life was troubled but it forged him into the man he became. He eventually traveled four continents seeing and serving in Libya, Korea, Vietnam, and across more than a half dozen posts in the United States.
His pride and joy was his family. He had two sons, Shawn and Travis, two loving daughter-in-laws, Sharon and Chelsea, and two loving grandchildren Neal and Nathan.
In addition to his military service, two tours in the Air Force and an Army National Guard Captain, Dad served our country as a DOD public affairs Army civilian for 25 years where he was sent on and performed a broad range of assignments. This included writing speeches for multiple four star generals, assisting with Katrina disaster relief, working with film crews at Ft Jackson on the movie Renaissance Man, helping with the Chicago flood disaster in the 1990’s, and too many other crises to count. Last to know first to go is the public affairs creed and he certainly lived that. To me he was just Dad.
Dad was involved with writing speeches that both Reagan and Obama gave. He helped with the Tornado cleanup in Joplin. He spent some time helping troubled local youths in Pittsburg. He helped to shape the 50th anniversary of Vietnam for Vets with the power players in DC. Giving them something which was long overdue. Welcome Home. He served.
When my own son came down with Neuroblastoma stage three cancer, he and Mom unhesitatingly uprooted their lives and moved to help us save my son. They lived with us for months. Mission accomplished Dad. Neal is doing well.
Dad never asked for much, a common birthday gift request was donating a can of corn to the local food bank. I can only guess why that resonated with him and I probably don’t want to know.
The love of Dad’s life was Lorella Fulton, a south east Kansas farm girl. They met while jumping out of planes in college. She was born on Christmas Day and they got married on Christmas as well.
I came along a year later and my brother joined the family seventeen years after that. We saw much and traveled far. Mom fought back cancer a half dozen times before it finally got her several years ago. Dad was ever the supportive husband. When she left, it took more than a bit of him with her.
Turning to painting, Dad produced dozens of paintings which he freely gave to the local community. There are many establishments around town which proudly show his work to this day. This is as much a testament to who he was as a friend to them as it is to his skill with the brush. To me he was always just Dad.
This is the man who left us last night. A man who fought back many internal demons. A man who proudly served his Nation, family, and community. A man who gave much and asked little. He gave me his cowboy hat when last we spoke. He was a true original cowboy who didn’t ride horses.
Memorial services will be 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at the Bath-Naylor Funeral Home, 522 S. Broadway in Pittsburg, KS, with the Rev. Duane Elmore, officiating. Inurnment of his cremains will be in the Girard City Cemetery. Condolences may be left at our web site www.bathnaylor.com.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for food bank donations, to the food bank of your choice or the Lord’s Diner in Pittsburg, KS. In care of the funeral home.
