HELEN FULLER Aug. 25, 2022
Helen Fuller’s fortunate life drew to a close Aug. 25, 2022, at age 89. She died peacefully surrounded by family a few weeks after falling and breaking a hip while hiking.
She was born in Denison, Texas, the second daughter of Walter Greene and Willie Rice Langston. Helen credits her father for her love of making people laugh by saying funny things and being silly. She was also incredibly smart and studied math with a minor in physics at Baylor University where she met her future husband Jack Fuller.
They married two days after Helen graduated from college at the age of 20. They were married for more than 60 years until Jack’s death in 2015. They moved to Los Alamos in 1959, where they raised two daughters.
She went to work at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in computer science. Over 20 years there, she did computer programming and security, selection and acquisition of computers, database management, data analysis, and trained users. When she started, she was working on room-sized mainframes programmed with large punch card decks. When she retired, she was working with PCs and small computer servers.
Her passions were many: golf, hiking, skiing, theater, opera, classical music, flying a 4-seater plane, world travel, and chocolate. She loved clouds. She looked for shapes and changing colors. She was a good cook and her chile rellenos, deep-fried French toast and chocolate meringue pie were favorites.
When asked for advice on ageing she said, “Exercise, exercise, exercise (It worked for me).” She was still playing golf and hiking at 89.
Helen is survived by her daughters Karen Blossom, married to Dave Ruelli, and Lori Fuller, married to Martha Coder. She is also survived by her sister Billye Head and Billye’s children, Leslie, Stuart and Linda.
Helen was active in AAUW and League of Women Voters. She advocated for being an informed voter and exercising your right to vote. She also was a staunch supporter of abortion rights. To honor Helen’s memory, use your right to vote this year to support those candidates who defend women’s right to choose safe accessible healthcare services.
A Memorial Service will be held at noon Sept. 30, 2022, at Tanoan Country Club’s Sandia Grill. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributing to Roadrunner® Food Bank, New Mexico PBS, arts organizations, AAUW and/or Planned Parenthood.
Read a longer obituary here.
