Robert Lee Fulton Jr.

On the night of his 91st birthday, surrounded by love and family, Robert Lee Fulton, Jr., died peacefully in Temecula, CA - opting, perhaps, to join his recently deceased wife for a greater celebration in Heaven.

A “change of life” surprise to Katie and Robert Sr., “Bobby” was born on January 3, 1935, in Jackson, MS. His parents’ only boy (his sisters were 10 and 12 at the time), he forevermore had a way of making an impressive entrance.

Family lore has it that he was always up to mischief. His love of sports, his natural writing ability, and his acceptance of Christ as a teenager at a Billy Graham Crusade probably kept him out of jail, according to his now-deceased sisters, Reacy and Kat.

"Steamboat," as he was nicknamed by his high school coaches, was a 1953 graduate of Jackson Central High School, where he was a three-year letterman in baseball. He first spotted Augusta Hutton, his eventual wife of 71 years, on an American Legion baseball diamond as she hiked up her poodle skirt and ran for cover in a sudden Mississippi rainstorm. Her brother, Freddie, a teammate, introduced them.

They married in 1954 between his first and second seasons as a minor leaguer with the Detroit Tigers organization. He soon decided the next best thing to getting paid to play sports was getting paid to watch sports. During ensuing years he worked as a sportswriter for the (Jackson) Clarion Ledger and Meridian (MS) Star.

After eight years of marriage, the Fultons welcomed a daughter, Cindy, and five years later, Michelle. He relished family life and was a doting father - despite the girls’ lack of desire to play pro baseball!

In 1967 Robert became the PR director for the ABA's New Orleans Buccaneers, and after three years, moved with the franchise to Memphis. He eventually returned to the Meridian Star as sports editor, and was named Mississippi's Sportswriter of the Year in 1972. He and Augusta bought a house on a lake, and thought they were going to raise the family there for the long term.

Later that year, however, Charles O. Finley beckoned “Bob” (as Finley dubbed him) back to Memphis where he became VP of Finley's newly purchased ABA Memphis Tams. After one season, he headed to Oakland, CA, and became Finley’s PR director for the eventual three-time World Champion Oakland A's.

Following that triumphant 1974 season and having lived his dream job, Bob was happily recruited by San Francisco-based Touchdown Publications. Although perhaps less glamorous (to those on the outside), he and Augusta found stability in a less stressful way of daily life, moving to the suburbs of Concord, CA. Even with the increased travel (often together, and to nearly every College Bowl Game there ever was) they settled the family into a true neighborhood, where they all made lifelong friends.

A DIYer before there was a name for it, he enjoyed building everything from tool sheds to porch swings, and famously engaged several neighbors to help him dig a hole for, and install, a backyard jacuzzi.

After 30 years at Touchdown (three as publisher) he retired in 2004. Shortly thereafter, he and Augusta moved to Southern California to a golf-course retirement community in Murrieta. He immediately joined the Men’s Golf Club and published its first-ever membership directory, winning multiple club championships as well.

A lover of telling “true stories,” which always led to a hilarious fictional punchline, he brought the party atmosphere. In addition to playing single-digit-handicap golf well into his golden years, he loved co-hosting parties and leading highly competitive card and trivia games. He and Augusta loved to two-step their way through frequent dinner-dances.

“Pop” was the kind of grandfather who got on the floor to play, and would always bet his grandsons a milkshake on the outcome of the MLB All-Star Game. He was a regular at their sporting events, and offered advice when he could (but he had no hockey, track or football experience!) At family gatherings, he’d often sneak out, change clothes, and ring the doorbell, re-entering to great laughter as one of his goofy alter egos.

Dementia began to dim his light in 2020, and he and Augusta downsized to a Temecula senior living community in 2021. There they were blessed with devoted caregivers and, eventually, an attentive hospice team. Much quieter than in his early years, he still had the Steamboat spark. On their 70th anniversary, when asked if he knew how many years he and Augusta had been married, he paused. Then, with a twinkle in his blue eyes, he deadpanned, “a hundred.”

A few years back, after a taxing stroll to nearby Lake Harveston, he sat on his walker to rest. When asked, “penny for your thoughts?” he replied, “I’m just thinking about how happy I am.”

And now, we are just thinking about how happy he made us.

Robert was six-weeks predeceased by his devoted wife, Augusta Hutton Fulton. He is survived by daughters Cindy (Joe) McMahon of Manhattan Beach, CA; and Michelle (Phil) Hise of Jacksonville, TX; four grandchildren: Joseph (Olivia) McMahon of Santa Monica, CA; Robert McMahon of Playa del Rey, CA; Andrew Hise of Houston, TX; Katie (James) Clardy of Giddings, TX; and great grandson, James “JJ” Clardy Jr.