Obituary of Marlys Mae Fuller

Marlys Mae Simons Fuller was born on May 28, 1930 to Edwin Wesley (Wes) and Pauline Standal Simons in Butte, Montana. She died at home on August 7, 2024 surrounded by family.

Her family moved from Montana back to Minnesota when she was very young. They lived on a DNR ranger station outside of Cotton, Minnesota until she finished 7th grade. She was confirmed in St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Canyon, MN. Her family then moved to Cloquet, Minnesota. Marlys graduated from Cloquet High School and the University of Minnesota Duluth with a degree in Home Economics.

Marlys worked as a County Extension Agent after her graduation from UMD. She worked until her wedding at which time she was required by the County to resign. Married and engaged women were not allowed to be employed by the County. As a result, she kept her engagement secret from her employers.

On June 20, 1953, Marlys married Glenn A. Fuller in St Andrew's Episcopal Church in Cloquet. In 1956 they moved to Minneapolis. In 1960, the house Marlys and Glenn built in Golden Valley was completed and the family, which included children Brynne, Bonnie, and Glenn, moved in. Beckie was born a few years later.

Marlys was a very strong advocate for her family. She was active in encouraging School District 281 and the Minnesota High School League to add Girls Sports to the already successful Boys Sports program. She believed her 3 daughters deserved to have the same Sports opportunities as her son. She had to be watchful to make sure that her son didn't get caught up in a backlash from Boys Coaches who didn't want to share the Sports budget with Girls Sports.

In 1971, she helped convince Robbinsdale District 281 to have a three High School Intramural Girls Swim season. When the officials at her daughters’ school couldn't find a Swim coach, Marlys found a coach.

Marlys also closely followed and attended the court case in Judge Miles Lord's courtroom in 1972 where Toni St Pierre (and Peggy Brennan) sued the Minnesota State High School League for the right to compete on a Boys High School Team. Fortunately, Toni won and Girls High School Sports started up fairly quickly in Minnesota schools.

Marlys worked tirelessly in support of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) spending many hours making calls to promote its National passage. She never dreamed it would fail and that many of the rights and protections she worked to win over the years would be lost or threatened for her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

She and the family took many camping trips around the country and to the BWCA. She encouraged her High School aged daughters to take BWCA trips. This was during a time when very few High School girls traveled in the BWCA without an adult leader/guide.

Marlys and Glenn traveled the world together. They enjoyed visiting relatives in Norway, walking on the Great Wall of China, riding camels in Morocco, and elephants in India. They loved the history in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Prague, Budapest, Costa Rica, Thailand and Hong Kong. They had many wonderful trips to Mexico including one where they drove from Minneapolis to Cancun and back. A favorite trip was to Australia to visit daughter Brynne and family who were living there for a year. They also had many trips around the USA and Canada to watch their children and grandchildren compete in sporting events.They came home from their trips with many stories about the wonderful people they met.

Marlys was an active member of the Minneapolis Chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). She joined in 1974 and was a dedicated member and advocate for the rest of her life. She enjoyed the Monday meetings at the beautiful AAUW house. She looked forward to hearing from the presenters and learning more about current issues. She valued the friendships she formed and strengthened through interesting discussions each week.

Marlys is survived by her husband of 71 years, Glenn A. Fuller, her children: Brynne Ault, Bonnie Fuller-Kask (Dave Kask), Glenn Fuller ll (Peggy Brown) and Beckie Alexander (Wallace Alexander).Grandchildren: Sarah (Kyle), Jenna, Jason (Katie), Bria (Sean), Ian, Noah, Per and Nico. Great Grandchildren: Piper, Claire, Tuuli and Otto.

She is preceded in death by her parents, brothers Paul and Gaylord (Kathy) and son-in-law Barry Ault.

A gathering celebrating her life will be held on Saturday, October 26, 2024, 2:30 PM, in the Valley Room at Brookview Golf Course,316 Brookview Pkwy S, Golden Valley, MN. In lieu of flowers, please support the Mpls AAUW or donate to the Harris-Walz Presidential campaign.