Connie Corkill Fuller
Connie Corkill Fuller, age 89, of Pine Bluff, passed away peacefully on Sunday, October 8, 2023. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
Born August 8, 1934, at Little Rock, she was a daughter of the late Charles Merchia Corkill and Mae Porter Corkill. Connie lived in Pine Bluff since childhood and was an honor graduate of Pine Bluff High School in 1953.
Straight out of high school, she went to work as a stenographer in the car department at the Cotton Belt Railroad to help support her family. She worked up until a few days before the birth of her son, and then became a full-time Mother to her children. After her children were in their teenage years, she embarked on another career in the Pine Bluff School District where she was the secretary at Southwood Elementary School for over 15 years. She later came out of retirement and assisted her son and daughter-in-law after opening Fuller Funeral Services. Her familiar face and great memory for names and kinships were appreciated by many families that were served.
As an elementary school secretary, Connie was a caring person but could sometimes be a little gruff. She knew all the children who came to the school office with chronic stomach aches and a myriad of other ailments. Her first question was “what are you doing here again?” That question produced many sudden, miraculous healings, and then the students went on their way back to class.
She was a member of First Methodist Church of Pine Bluff for over 64 years. Her wedding to Edwin Alexander Fuller, Jr. on January 1, 1958, was one of the first to be held in the new Wheeler Chapel at First Methodist. The wedding “took,” and she and Ed were married for 58 years prior to his death on May 1, 2016.
Ed and Connie (their names were invariably linked) had many friends over the years. Their closest friends were Edwin and Martha Hughes, and Bill and Sue Green. The three couples spent lots of time at “The Farm” at Princeton, Ark., took trips together, played cards every week, with snacks and a meal together between card games. Many new recipes were experimentally tested on this group. Some made the cut… others disappeared forever.
Connie was an excellent cook and enjoyed feeding her family and friends. Her and Ed’s house seemed to be the gathering point for family events on both sides of the family for birthdays, a landing place for family coming from out of town, and Christmas. The holidays always had “must haves” that continue with her children and grandchildren. She believed that there was a “perfect weather” day to make divinity candy that wouldn’t “fall”. A cool and crisp day with low humidity always fit the bill.
She was also precedeceased by her two sisters, Patsy Corkill Strode and Ann Corkill Crossett.
Survivors include her children, Charles E. “Chuck” Fuller and wife Nancy of White Hall, and Miriam Fuller Hughes and husband Bill of Oak Island, N.C.; her grandchildren, Edwin Spencer Fuller of Austin, Texas, Caroline Fuller Damron and husband Joseph of Charleston, S.C., Sarah Rachel Hughes (Brian White) and Margaret Ann “Maggie” Brewster and husband Daniel, all of Chattanooga, Tenn.; a great-grandson, Nicodemus Taylor Brewster; her brother, Charles P. Corkill of Austin, Texas; along with many extended family members.
Connie also had a special friend in North Carolina, Kim Bill, who provided her with many hours of loving assistance and companionship.
Funeral service will be Monday, October 16, 2023, 1:30 p.m. at First Methodist Church of Pine Bluff with Rev. Carlton Cross officiating. Interment will follow in Graceland Cemetery by Fuller Hale-South Funeral Services.
Visitation will be Sunday from 2-4 p.m. at the funeral home.
Memorials may be made to First Methodist Church, 200 West 6th Avenue, Pine Bluff, Ark. 71601, or to SECU Hospice House of Brunswick, 955 Mercy Lane SE, Bolivia, N.C. 28422.
For online condolences, and to view a livestream of the service, please visit FullerFunerals.com