Delbert Dean Fullmer

Delbert Dean Fullmer, 88, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother and friend passed away peacefully on October 25 after a brief illness.

Dean was born on October 22, 1930, the son of John Delbert and Helen Grace Ketchum Fullmer. He graduated from Springville High School where he sang and played guitar with a quartet for school and local church functions. He discovered and began playing the electric steel guitar as a teenager. His natural ability and love of music led to his lifelong desire to bring the music he loved to people all over the state. Over the years Dean played in several different Country Western bands, including the Country Gentlemen. Most recently he played with the Sawmill River Band and the Midnight Strangers. He also spent several years playing steel guitar with a local Polynesian group for events all across the state.

Dean loved trains, especially old steam engines. As a child he would ride his bike to watch the trains pass through Springville, and still took drives through Spanish Fork Canyon to watch trains pass by. His favorite vacations were traveling by train, or touring railroad museums and rail yards. He built a model train layout in his home over many years, which provided fascination and entertainment for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and loved to go with friends to model train shows. Dean also loved vintage autos, he knew the year, make and model of almost every old car he saw, and enjoyed going to local car shows, especially with his grandsons.

Dean married his sweetheart, Marilyn Pace on July 20, 1961 in the Manti Temple. Dean and Marilyn had five daughters (Denise, Deena, Andrea, Heather, and Sara). Dean's gentleness and polite manners made him an ideal father for five girls. He also loved his extended Fullmer Family. He looked forward to reunions where he could reconnect with aunts, uncles and cousins he loved so much. Dean was a thoughtful friend, and always took time to visit friends and loved ones, and always carefully attended to those he cared for during difficult times or illness.

Dean was a lifelong active member of the LDS Church, holding several leadership positions over the years, and he was faithful to his calling to minister to families and to provide comfort and support.

Dean leaves behind thirty adoring grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren, his daughters, and sister Joanne Johnson of Kaysville, Utah. He was preceded in death by his loving wife Marilyn, his sister Valletta Brooks, brother Owen Fullmer, and his parents.

A viewing will be held Thursday, November 1 from 6 to 8 pm at Wheeler Mortuary, 211 East 200 South, Springville, Utah. The funeral will be held Friday at 11 am, November 2, at the Hobble Creek 4th Ward chapel, 1440 East 900 South Springville, Utah.