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Keith Edward Fulmer
Born: 7/27/1958
Died: 9/1/2012
Age: 54
Community: Grand Blanc, MI
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FULMER, Keith Edward, age 54, loving husband, father, brother, son, and dear friend passed away surrounded by his daughters and wife on Saturday, September 1, 2012 after a three-month battle with cancer. A noted woodturning artist and furniture maker, Keith's custom woodworking and lathe-turned and hand carved wood creations have been enjoyed in homes and businesses across the USA and abroad.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Keith grew up in Akron, Ohio, graduating from Firestone High School having competed on the varsity track team winning in long distance events. He then attended Kent State University for a brief time before moving to upstate New York where he attended Hudson Valley Community College. He went on to graduate from Riverside School of Aeronautics in Utica, NY, winning the Otto Enderton Award of Excellence and graduating at the top of his class in Aeronautics and Powerplant mechanics in 1982. That same year, he married Mara Jevera Fulmer and began exploring his interest in furniture making and restoration. Always the creative craftsman, Keith’s passion for working with his hands led to building the family home from the ground up in meadowlands in the Ballston Lake region of upstate New York.
Launching Fulmer Building Specialties in 1987 as a tile and masonry contractor, Keith operated the Bomanite franchise installing colored and imprinted sculptural concrete for all of the upstate New York region.
In 1991, the family moved to the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific for his wife’s job. Not being satisfied with sitting on the beach, Keith embraced new jobs including as Supervising Manager for J.S. Hill & Associates, then the largest construction company in the South Pacific. But his favorite was as Dive Master on the live-aboard dive boat the Pacific Nomad where he could explore his passion for the natural beauty of one of the world’s premiere scuba diving regions. Often joined by his wife, he dove with whale sharks, manta rays, and groupers swimming among the rainbow schools of tropical fish amid the undersea landscapes of colorful hard and soft corals. He also served as a medic for the Fiji Dive Operator’s Hyperbaric Treatment Chamber.
To fulfill his passion for the art of making things, he built a tropical home by the sea in Pacific Harbour, Fiji, again from the ground up, a home where the family shared many special memories and brilliant sunsets with their extended family and friends.
Moving back to the USA in mid 1997, Keith settled with his family in Grand Blanc, Michigan where Keith initially worked in the concrete industry in the Detroit region utilizing his expertise in colored and imprinted sculptural concrete installations.
But he soon decided to pursue his passion for woodworking full-time. And by 1999, he began exploring the art of woodturning, creating lathe-turned artistic pieces. He studied his craft at the Arrowmont School in Gatlinburg, TN, and also privately with several nationally recognized leaders in this craft. His original work in both woodturning and studio furniture design is in private collections in the USA and abroad.
Keith also exhibited his work through fine arts shows and galleries, including Buckham Gallery in Flint, Michigan more recently in a show he shared with his wife, titled Intimate Knowledge that opened in September 2010.
In addition to creating and exhibiting, he taught woodturning lessons to other aspiring artists, at his home, for clubs in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic region, and as an instructor at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Murphy, NC. He was a former member of The Furniture Society, Michigan Association of Woodturners, and the American Association of Woodturners.
Known for his easy going way and great sense of humor, he was always humble about his talents. Keith never hesitated to help others with their own projects, but especially lent his talents to support the artistic work of his daughters and his wife, an art/design professor at Mott Community College. Keith was often enlisted for woodworking needed to implement creative exhibition designs for projects in Detroit and the Flint area, and even assisting with mentoring the students on special projects.
Prior to his illness, Keith had enjoyed riding his motorcycle with his wife beside him as they began new adventures, traveling the scenic roads of Michigan, New York and around New Hampshire together.
Keith leaves behind his loving wife of more than 30 years, Mara Jevera Fulmer, and his daughters Sarah Fulmer-Ignash, and Anastassia Fulmer, and son-in-law Mark Ignash. He also leaves his father, Kenneth Fulmer, and sisters Patricia Van Haitsma and Barbara Fulmer Bates, his niece Anna Bates, nephews Ethan and Liam Holzer, and brothers-in-law Ric Van Haitsma, and Eugene Holzer, and sister-in-law Danette Holzer. He is preceded in death by his mother, Verna Fulmer. He will also dearly be missed by numerous close friends and extended family across the USA and abroad.
The family welcomes all Keith's friends and family to join them for visitation on Thursday, September 6, 2012 from 5-8 pm and visitation 12 p.m. and funeral service to follow at 2 pm Friday, September 7, 2012 at the Swartz Funeral Home, 1225 West Hill Road, Flint, Rabbi Karen Companez officiating.
In lieu of cut flowers, the family requests donations to either the American Cancer Society, or to an art/design scholarship being set up in Keith’s name at Mott Community College, Flint, Michigan. Your condolences may be shared with the family at swartzfuneralhomeinc.com.
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| Visitation |
| The family welcomes all Keith's friends and family to join them for visitation on Thursday, September 6, 2012 from 5-8 pm |
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| Funeral Service |
| Date: |
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9/7/2012 |
| Time: |
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2:00 PM |
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| Location: |
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Swartz Funeral Home & Cremation Center
1225 West Hill Road
Flint, MI 48507Get a Map to this location...
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| Official: |
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Rabbi Karen Companez |
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