Daniel Brown Fuller, 87, co-owner of the former Noyes Dry Goods store in Mystic, one of the oldest family businesses in the region, died peacefully on Wednesday, November 28, 2012, at Avalon Health Care Center at StoneRidge.
He was born March 1, 1925, the son of Howard Fuller and Rosalie Brown Fuller.
Mr. Fuller graduated from Robert E. Fitch High School and was a member of the Class of 1946 at Dartmouth College. He also served as a deck and gunnery officer in the United States Naval Reserve. He married his first wife, Katherine Brunke Noyes on June 26, 1948. He married his second wife, Mary Walker Pennington on January 12, 2002.
Noyes Dry Goods was an institution in Mystic. It closed in 1989 after 117 years in four locations, all in downtown Mystic. Destroyed in the fire that ravaged the east side of the Mystic business district in 1960, Noyes’ reopened a year later in a larger building in the area where nine stores, a theater and a number of offices were reduced to rubble. It was the first enterprise to open after the fire, earning commendations from Stonington officials and business people.
Mr. Fuller and his wife, Katherine, co-owners of Noyes’, were known for their helpful manner and community spirit. Noyes’ sold many items, including custom-made draperies and slipcovers, baby clothes, lingerie, sweaters, blouses, handbags, and accessories. It was always one of Mystic’s key stores.
He was a former President of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce, former chairman of the Stonington Board of Police Commissioners, and former Commodore of Mason’s Island Yacht Club.
He is survived by his children, Daniel Howard Noyes Fuller, Jonathan Noyes Fuller, and Ashley Elizabeth Fuller; two grandchildren, Alexandra Louisa Peak and Christopher Fuller Peak; six stepchildren, Philip Pennington, James Pennington, Jane Davis, Sarah Maxwell, Mary Jessica Schmitt, and Anne Schultz; a godchild, Jane Lassen Bobruff; and a close friend, Marc Ginsberg.
He was predeceased in death by his oldest daughter, Alison Fuller Peak in 1990, by his first wife, Katherine in 1999, by his second wife, Mary in 2012, and by his sister, Pauline Fuller Grover, in 2004.
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday, December 7, at St. Mary’s Church, Stonington. There are no calling hours. Private burial will precede at Elm Grove Cemetery, Mystic.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Mr. Fuller to the following organizations: Dartmouth College Development, 6066 Development Office, Hanover NH 03755 or Mystic Arts Center, 9 Water Street, Mystic CT 06355.
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