South Bay community leader Fulcher dies at 75
Prominent activist was past president of the San Jose/ Silicon Valley NAACP
Tommy James Fulcher Jr. overcame adversity to become a prominent South Bay community activist and a respected leader in the African American community.
“We all stand on the shoulders of great civil rights leaders like Tommy who have paved the path for respect, dignity and fairness for African Americans and all people of color in
this community,” the Rev. Jethroe Moore II, president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP, said in a news release Monday.
Fulcher, a Santa Clara resident, died Jan. 28 at the age of 75.
Fulcher was a past president of the local branch of the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and became the first African American to head the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce. He also was the CEO of Economic and Social Opportunities,
a leading antipoverty nonprofit, for two decades before the organization filed for bankruptcy in 2007.
In addition, he was an active community volunteer who served on nearly two dozen boards and commissions in Santa Clara County, including the Planning Commission, Airports Commission, Good Samaritan Medical Foundation, San Jose Police Chief Advisory Committee and Boy Scouts of America.
“The one thing about Tom, and he lived it, is that he loved being able to help people,” Gail Fulcher, his wife of 38 years, said in a phone interview Monday. “And it may sound like a
cliche, but it wasn’t just for his job at ESO but throughout the community. That was his heart.”
She said her husband died suddenly from heart problems.
Fulcher was born on May 11, 1944, in Oklahoma City, the second of 10 children. His family moved to the San Diego area when he was 2 years old, and by age 12 he was “thrust into the role of caregiver for his siblings,” which entailed stealing vegetables from local gardens to feed them, according to an online obituary for Fulcher written by his family. He and his siblings were later placed in a children’s home after a neighbor called social services,
until their aunt took custody a year later.
At 16, Fulcher “ran afoul of the law” after returning to Oklahoma City, and enlisted in the Army at the behest of a judge, according to the obituary. He later went on to serve in the Vietnam War as a company commander, earning two Bronze Star medals, and was honorably discharged at age 24 due to an injury.
After leaving the military, Fulcher earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a master’s in business administration at Harvard Business School.
“Tommy overcame tremendous adversity but
went on to make a positive difference in the lives of those in need here in Santa Clara County,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose. “He will be greatly missed in our community and by the wonderful family he loved so much.”
After graduating from Harvard, he taught at City College of New York, led a nonprofit that helped transition female convicts to civilian life, and later moved to Washington, D.C., where he met his second wife, Gail, and married her in 1980.
Fulcher, his wife and two sons moved to San Jose in 1981, when he took over as CEO at Economic and Social Opportunities.
In addition to his wife, Fulcher is survived by sons Anthony, Paul and Tommy III and their partners, Christine, Norma and Elena, as well as six siblings and a host of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Fulcher’s family has requested that instead of flowers, donations be made to the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP to establish a scholarship fund in his name.
Private services will be held in San Diego on Wednesday. His family is planning a public memorial in San Jose, which will be announced on a memorial Facebook page set up by his family.