Sybil Britson Fuller

Sybil Britson Fuller, 86, passed away peacefully Tuesday, April 15, 2014, at Bethany-St. Joseph Care Center in La Crosse, WI, with family by her side. She was a cancer survivor managing the effects of a stroke and struggling through the debilitating disease, Alzheimers.



Sybil Pauline, the 11th of 13 children, was born to Isabelle Prescott and Edward Britson on July 1, 1927, in McCallsburg, IA. After graduating from McCallsburg High School in 1945, she attended Iowa School of Beauty in Des Moines while working at Younkers Tea Room. She held many jobs throughout her life; decorating cakes, offering guided tours for Farmland Foods, stocking stores for American Greeting Cards, attending the bakery at SuperValu in Fargo and managing inventory at a hardware store there.

She married her high school sweetheart/the boy next door, Arthur Fuller, on July 20, 1947, when Arthur returned from service in WWII. They were married at Grace Lutheran Church in Des Moines, IA and then immediately moved to Boulder, CO, where Arts family had moved while he was overseas. Sybil faithfully followed Art to many places throughout their marriage Casper, WY; Grinnell, IA; Ottumwa, IA; Des Moines, IA; Fargo, ND; Columbus, WI; Appleton, WI; Lakeland, FL; Denison, IA; Lilburn, GA; Russellville, KY; Bowling Green, KY; and eventually La Crosse, WI in 2012. She always managed to create a home within a day or two of moving in. She loved caring for her flower gardens and landscaping wherever they lived and knew the names of all the plants and flowers. Sybil set the bar high when it came to laundry. Her whites were the whitest and Arts starched shirts were second to none. Sybil and Art shared a love of music and dancing and were on numerous golf leagues and bowling teams. Sybil loved young children and enjoyed shopping with her girls, even long after they were little girls. Her pride and her joy was found in her family. She loved to entertain and act as tour guide to whomever visited wherever they lived. Sybil was awesome in the kitchen and family fondly remembers numerous meals spent around her dining room table enjoying her enormous spreads and delicious desserts. Her banana nut bread and her peach and lemon meringue pies are often still discussed. When she and Art lived in Denison, IA, her grandchildren would always head to the extra refrigerator in the basement to sneak pieces of fudge and other goodies it was always well-stocked. Once tables were cleared and dishes were done, Sybil put on a crown and turned into the Dominoes Queen always matching dominoes by the color, not the number, of the dots. It was always fun, during family gatherings, to hear Sybils giggles erupt. Usually, her giggles were contagious and it didnt take long for those gathered to join in. Sybil and Art attended Southern Heights Baptist Church of Russellville, KY and were members of the Russellville Country Club for many years before moving to Chandler Park Assisted Living in Bowling Green, KY. She was preceded in death by her parents; her beloved husband; her siblings Ergen Britson, Ione Beal, Rueben Britson, Gladys Anderson, Mattie Johnson, Esther Hansen, Hazel Dawson, Viola Morris, and Edward Britson Jr.; and her grandson-in-law, Mike DeBruin. She is survived by three sisters and their families, Sarah Rauch of San Diego, CA, Norma Dear of Burnsville, MN, and Loretta Palmer of Redondo Beach, CA; three daughters, Diane (John) Landro of La Crosse, Sally (Arlen) Harmoning of Eagan, MN, and Nancy Coursey (R.W. Meredith) of Russellville, KY. She was blessed with a large, loving family including six granddaughters, Jennifer (Brad) Kooistra, Aimee Derra, Elizabeth (Ben) Leuenberger, Nicole (Bill) Grundel, Korie DeBruin, Stacey (Carl Bartell) Wilson; one grandson, Lee (Amanda) Coursey; five step-grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren, Theo and Arthur Kooistra, Cody Derra, Ben Singleton and Ethan Grundel, Madelyn and Birk DeBruin, and Reagan and Lauren Coursey; 18 step-great-grandchildren; three brothers-in-law and their families, Bob Dawson of Eau Claire, WI, Michael (Jeanine) Fuller of Crest Hill, IL, Charles (Lynne) Fuller of Beaver Dam, WI; one sister-in-law and her family, Marge Fuller of Waukesha, WI.; and the families of her siblings and of her brother-in-law, Wallace Fuller of Iowa. Her caring heart and quiet passion will be missed by many nieces, nephews, cousins, and all who knew her. A visitation will be held at Schumacher-Kish Funeral Home in La Crosse on Wednesday, April 23thrdth from 6-8:00 p.m. A visitation at 10:00 a.m. and memorial service at 11:00 a.m. will be held Friday, April 25th at Alden United Methodist Church in Alden, IA. Burial will be in Jackson Township Cemetery, near Owasa, IA, at 1:00 p.m., following the funeral luncheon. The family is being assisted by Schumacher-Kish Funeral Home in La Crosse.

In lieu of plants or flowers, memorials can be made to the Alzheimers Association by going to alz.org/donate, selecting tributes from the left side menu bar and searching for Sybil Fullers tribute page.