E. Wayne Fulmer
January 18,1934 – November 23, 2025
E. Wayne Fulmer, 91, joined the Church Triumphant on November 23, 2025 in Hoover, Alabama. He was born on January 18, 1934 in Homer, Louisiana to Ezzie Foster Fulmer and Blondelle McKenzie Fulmer. He was the youngest of nine children. At his birth his oldest sister was 27 and his youngest was 10. He graduated from Louisiana Tech in Chemical Engineering in 1956 and married two days later. In 1991 he retired from Dow Chemical Company after 31 years. He said at the time he expected to have ten or 15 years to enjoy his retirement. He had 35.
He met the love of his life, Carolyn, in 1950 when he was 16 and she was 14. They were together 75 years and married for 69. She, his daughters, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren were his greatest joy and always his first priority. He loved nothing more than gathering as many as possible at their house. At those times there was so much laughter, so much joy around him that sometimes he’d stop, pause a minute to look around the room and take it all in with a huge smile on his face.
He was very active in his church, Morningstar Methodist Church in Chelsea, Alabama, and was active in several other churches throughout his life. One of his highlights was when his daughters were in high school and he spent three years as a youth mentor for the youth at Jefferson United Methodist Church. Carolyn agreed to play piano for the youth choir and during that time they chaperoned two youth choir trips on school buses for the choir to sing in other churches, once to southeast Texas and another time in North Carolina and Tennessee. The youth called them Papa Fulmer and Mama Fulmer.
Throughout his adult life he enjoyed many hobbies, always with Carolyn, and often with his daughters and grandchildren. When the family was young, he and Carolyn would pack the girls up and go camping. And not the fancy camper camping. He bought a 12×18 tent, even while one of the daughters was still in diapers.
He, Carolyn, and his girls enjoyed singing four-part harmony, and with five members in the family, it was a challenge! Everyone had to grab a note wherever they could find one. His love of singing with his family while Carolyn played the piano followed him his whole life. He enjoyed listening to Southern Gospel Quartet music. Among his favorites were The Blackwood Brothers, The Kingdom Heirs, and The Cathedrals.
Wayne and Carolyn enjoyed square dancing for many years and traveled extensively in their retirement. There were trips to 31 countries and all 50 states. In their 60’s they bought a motor home, a Honda Goldwing motorcycle, and a trailer to pull the motorcycle behind the motor home. With that combination, they made many trips to the Smoky Mountains, usually joined by whichever family members were free at the time.
He loved SEC football. He would cheer for any SEC team against any non-conference team no matter what. But his first loyalty was to LSU, even after he left Louisiana to move to Alabama.
He is survived by his wife, Carolyn; his daughters Marty Ducote and her husband Joseph, Connie Lumley and her husband Tim, and Vicky McKay; his grandchildren Michael Lumley and his wife Jennifer Tarr, Robert Lumley and his wife Lauren, Elizabeth Ducote, Rachel McKay, and James McKay; and two great grandchildren, Sawyer Statler Lumley and Caroline Mena Tarr Lumley. He was preceded in death by his parents, eight siblings, and a beloved son-in-law, Mike McKay.
Services will be held on Friday, December 12, 2025 at Morningstar Methodist Church, 11072 Highway 11, Chelsea, Alabama 35043. Visitation will be at 10:30 AM and a Celebration of Life will follow at 11:00. It was Wayne’s wish that, in lieu of flowers, memorials go to Morningstar Methodist Church or St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.