Obituary of Wendell Fulton U.E.; B.A.; LL.B.;M.A.

Wendell Earle Fulton U.E.; B.A.; LL.B.; M.A. Wendell Earle Fulton was born on February 12th 1932 in the farmhouse his grandfather built in Lakeville Corner, Sunbury County, New Brunswick, the only child of Walter Earle Fulton of Lakeville Corner and Annie Estelle (Thompson) Fulton of Maquapit Lake. Wendell had English, Norwegian, Dutch and German ancestry, twenty-six Loyalists, two pre-Loyalists, and Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower. His Fulton ancestor was among other Scottish immigrants from Northern Ireland. He received his early education in the one-room Lakeville Corner school from 1938-45, now derelict and inhabited by racoons, where he had to provide his own chair in Grade One, later graduating from Fredericton High School in 1948. His life-long interest in politics began in high school when he boarded opposite the Legislative Library where he spent many afternoons; and an uncle was also an MLA. From July to December 1948 Wendell attended the New Brunswick Teachers’ College and following graduation he began teaching at Bloomfield Ridge while still only sixteen years of age. He then taught at Minto Memorial High School from 1949-52 and was inspired by the then principal, Charles Day, to attend Mt. Allison University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and French in 1955 although he was the class of ’56. In 1955 Wendell was awarded a World University Service Canada scholarship and visited six countries in Europe, including an excursion to then Communist Prague. In September of that year he was awarded a one-year Beaverbrook Overseas Scholarship and studied History at the University of London, England and during that time attended every play he could on the London stage, met Lord Beaverbrook and tried his chances on a soap box at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park. He travelled on the Continent, driving to Gibraltar with other students. One lasting impression he recounted was of the deserted beaches of the Costa del Sol with just fishing boats drawn up on the sand. In July 1956 he joined the Department of External Affairs in Ottawa but left that post a year later to attend the Dalhousie Law School where he earned an LL.B. in 1960 while living at Pine Hill and working at two jobs: summer relief news editor at the CBC and teaching at the Halifax School for the Blind. During his university years he was a two-time winner of the Canadian University Debating Championships for Mt. Allison and Dalhousie. Immediately upon graduation he joined the Trade Commissioner Service of the Federal Department of Trade and Commerce. Said he was the only person he knew who sat for the civil service exams twice, and passed both times; and in 1961 he was posted to the Canadian Embassy in Oslo as Assistant Trade Commissioner to Norway. He had several stories from that era including skiing, lunching with the President of Iceland in Reykjavik and transporting the ambassador’s mother-in-law’s dog across the German border. He had a Volvo shipped home from Oslo and preferred them from then on. Returning to Canada in September 1962, Wendell served as an articled clerk in the law offices of Kitz and Matheson in Halifax, being admitted to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1963. After all his legal training he preferred working in politics and had only one case as a lawyer which he won. He then worked as a journalist for CBC in Fredericton until September 1965 when he became Executive Assistant to the Hon. William Duffie, Minister of Youth and Welfare. After that he served as Executive Secretary of the New Brunswick Liberal Association from 1966-72, attending meetings in Ottawa with Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Also during those years he took his ninety-year old grandmother into his home and cared for her for the next five years. A bachelor until he was forty, he developed into a gourmet cook, and decided to eat his way through the top New York restaurants, Le Pavillon, Lutece and the like. He was also an avid hitchhiker, travelling to Boston for baseball games, and back and forth to university when he was always successful in picking up rides by carrying an empty suitcase. He hitchhiked across Europe and eastern North America, once being escorted out of Fort Lauderdale to the city limits by the police. Always detesting ice and snow, he took his vacations in the Caribbean tropics, Puerto Rico being his favourite island. He once rode a mule up to the mountaintop fortress Citadel Laferriere in northern Haiti; and flew into the Amazon town of Leticia on the Colombia-Peru border with no roads in or out. Born into a Liberal family he became a supporter of the CCF but returned to his Liberal roots, influenced by Louis Robichaud’s Program of Equal Opportunity and his mentor, Senator Charles McElman. He was later singled out by E.G. Byrne and spent dozens of hours taping interviews with him for his biography. He was adept with computers since their inception and had the latest PET, Commodore 64, 128 etc. as they came on the market. His office always looked like the aftermath of a hurricane but he could put his hand on any piece of paper or file he was asked for. One thing he felt good about was flying into Fredericton during the devastating 1973 flood and rescuing Louis Robichaud’s papers from the Liberal Party headquarters basement, arranging for a refrigerated truck to freeze and then dry them out. Wendell married Pamela Allpress, an occupational therapist from Sydney, Australia, on 17th February 1972 in Fredericton. Three months later he became the first lobbyist and legislative researcher for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation in Toronto where he instigated their political action committee and published political maps and booklets. He would drive from Bowmanville to Toronto every day through what he called “the wasteland”, tuned to Mozart or Handel. In 1981 he earned a Master’s degree in Political Science from York University. He and Pam had two children, Duncan 1975 and Hannah 1981, who both seem to have inherited his political genes. During his time in Ontario Wendell was awarded the Queen Elizabeth medal. In 1987 he officially retired from OSSTF and returned to New Brunswick where wild horses couldn’t keep him away from politics. Both in New Brunswick and Ontario his political savvy and wisdom were much sought after and relied upon. He also had a knack for projecting election outcomes. For the next ten years he worked in the Liberal Caucus Office; and was appointed Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick; and taught Political History at St. Thomas University. Together, he and Pam, both intrepid travellers, visited Australia and New Zealand several times where they sailed and flew past Mitre Peak which soars a mile high over Milford Sound; snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef; sampled the vineyards of the Marlborough Sounds, Hawke’s Bay, the Barossa Valley, Southern Vales and Napa Valley. Before starting a family he would surprise her with tickets to the Ballet Folklorico in Mexico City at Easter, the Colorado Rockies, and San Francisco; and together they toured the Mayan ruins of Tikal and Copan and viewed the stunning sunrise over Lake Atitlan. Since 1987 Wendell contributed four articles to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, and had a long-running weekly radio travel spot on Fredericton CBC, phoning in from odd places around the world when he was on holiday. After his complete retirement he could safely write what was on his mind, having at first a weekly column in the Saint John Telegraph Journal, and then began writing copious letters to the editor mostly in reference to political matters. From 2004 on his activities were increasingly hampered by Parkinson’s Disease but in later retirement enjoyed seven cruises in five years with their last trip an “eating holiday” in London and Paris which he wanted to see again before he died. So, it was three star Michelin restaurants day and night with no regrets. He survived colliding with a moose (twice) and his car being hit by a GO train at a level crossing in Scarborough. He had been mulling his epitaph for years with phrases such as “All governments are born to die”, and “In a democracy the electorate is incapable of error” but decided to simply have his degrees on his stone which must have been most meaningful of all. He died peacefully to the strains of Mozart, on September 18 2016, in the same room in which he was born at Lakeville Corner. Immediate family: Pamela, of Lakeville Corner, son Duncan (Annie) of Calgary, Alberta, daughter Hannah (Aaron) Johnston of Doaktown, NB; and grandchildren William Fulton, Alexandre Fulton, Sydney Johnston and Lexie Johnston. Following a private burial, a public memorial of his life will be held for friends, family and colleagues at the Crowne Plaza Lord Beaverbrook Hotel in Fredericton this Saturday, September 24th at 2:00pm. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (Canada). Arrangements are being made through the York Funeral Home (www.yorkfh.com or 506-458-9538).