Ruth Fuller, a pioneer in special education for the St. Louis County Special School District and longtime community leader, died Monday (Dec. 17, 2007) at her home in Olivette. She was 83 and had been recently diagnosed with cancer.
In 1961, she was the first African American to be hired by the St. Louis County Special School District. She previously taught at the Lake School in Creve Coeur. This was before Brown vs. Board of Education, a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that paved the way for integration.
Wauneen Young, a retired teacher in the district, said, “Ruth was able to teach children with all disabilities. She never refused any student’s special needs for an education.”
In 1974, along with her former husband, Vernell Elihue Fuller, she taught English as a second language at the David Livingston Teacher Training College in Zambia. After their year-long mission in Zambia, the Fullers returned to St. Louis and she returned to teaching in the Special School District before finally retiring after 29 years.
She also was active in the Congress of Racial Equality and a founder of the JeffVanderLou community organization for housing.
She was born in Chireno, Texas and earned her bachelor’s degree at Langston University in Oklahoma, with additional studies at the University of Illinois, Washington University and Saint Louis University.
Among survivors are her son, Vernell E. Fuller II of Detroit; two daughters, Sharon Fuller and Dr. Marilyn Camille Fuller, both of St. Louis; and two grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday with a funeral service at 10 a.m. at Layne Renaissance Chapel, 7302 West Florissant Avenue. Interment will be at St. Peters Cemetery.