Vital Information
| Field | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Birth Name | Aura Gale Orrill | WikiTree Orrill-24 |
| Full Name | Gale Fulghum | Obituary, memoir |
| Born | 19 Feb 1923 | Obituary |
| Birthplace | Kansas City, MO (Jackson_County_Missouri) | Obituary |
| Died | 2 Oct 2007 | Obituary |
| Death Place | Independence, MO (at home) | Obituary |
| Burial | Salem Cemetery (cremation) | Obituary |
| Biological Mother | Sybil_Dora_Holt_Fulghum (b. 1900, Wilmot, KS; d. 1989, Jackson Co, MO) | WikiTree Holt-14739 |
| Biological Father | Clinton_Woodward_Orrill (b. 1900; d. 13 Mar 1926, Sugar Creek, MO; refinery explosion) | WikiTree Orrill-24 |
| Adoptive/Stepfather | Fred Forest Fulghum (b. 21 Sep 1895, New Paris, IN; d. 20 Dec 1966, Kansas City, MO) | FaG #25618094, memoir photo captions #12, #16 |
| Maternal Grandfather | Noah_Caswell_Holt (1869-1935) | WikiTree Holt-14739 |
| Maternal Grandmother | Dora L. Copeland Holt (1872-1940, Jefferson, TN) | WikiTree Holt-14739 |
| Great-Uncle/Aunt (caregivers) | John William Holt and Clara Effie Kennedy Holt (Wilmot, KS) | Memoir ch. 1, Heritage Book |
| Brother (deceased) | Leo Eugene Orrill (9 Mar 1922 - 15 Mar 1922; died at 6 days) | WikiTree Orrill-25 |
| Spouse | Doris_Vaughan_Fulghum (m. 14 Sep 1944, Chicago) | Doris obituary |
| Children | Gary Vaughan Fulghum (1948) | Obituary |
| Stepbrother | Robert_Edgar_Fulghum (b. 28 Aug 1924, Winfield, KS; d. 20 Aug 2003, Kansas City, MO) | FaG #135422906, memoir photo captions #3, #14, #17 |
Biography
Gale Fulghum was born on February 19, 1923, in Kansas City, Missouri, to Sybil Dora Holt and Clinton Woodward "Jack" Orrill. His birth name was Aura Gale Orrill. Gale's memoir refers to "Jack and Sybil Orille" as his "assumed biological parents" (photo caption, Fairmount, MO, 1925). "Jack" was Clinton's known nickname; "Orille" was a phonetic misspelling of Orrill. Gale had an older brother, Leo Eugene Orrill, who died at six days old (March 9-15, 1922).
On March 13, 1926, Clinton was killed in a tar still explosion at the Standard Oil refinery in Sugar Creek, Missouri. He was 25; Gale was three. Clinton's father Frederick Thomas Orrill died less than three months later. After these losses, Sybil sent Gale and his stepbrother Bob (Fred Fulghum's son from his first marriage to Margaret Parsons) to live with her uncle and aunt, John William Holt and Clara Effie Kennedy Holt, on their 160-acre farm near Wilmot, Cowley County, Kansas. The memoir calls them "foster grandparents," but they were blood relatives: John William was the brother of Gale's maternal grandfather, Noah Caswell Holt. By 1928, Sybil had married Fred Forest Fulghum (1895-1966), a WWI veteran and gas fitter from New Paris, Indiana, whose first wife Margaret Parsons had died on December 14, 1926. Fred gave Gale the Fulghum surname, replacing the Orrill name. Bob was already a Fulghum by birth. The family settled at 1222 North Liberty, Independence, Missouri.
Gale attended kindergarten in Augusta, Kansas (1929), then grew up at 1222 N. Liberty, Independence, MO (by 1935). He was a 1940 graduate of William Chrisman High School in Independence. He attended William Jewell College before transferring to the University of Oklahoma, where he played on a championship football team and earned honorable mention All-American. He graduated from the University of Missouri at Rolla with honors in Metallurgical Engineering.
During World War II, Gale served as a Naval Officer in the Southwest Pacific through the Navy V-12 Program. He married Doris Vaughan on September 14, 1944, in Chicago, after graduating from Navy Midshipman School there.
After the war, Gale worked in production management for Westinghouse and International Systems Controls. He was a faithful member of the First United Methodist Church of Independence. He and Doris had one son, Gary Vaughan Fulghum (1948).
Gale wrote "The Best of Times" memoir in January 2004, dedicating it to his grandson Clayton Vaughan Fulghum. He died on October 2, 2007, at his home in Independence, MO, at age 84.
Document Sources
| Document | Type | Vault Note |
|---|---|---|
| "The Best of Times" memoir (2004) | Personal memoir, 80-page scanned PDF | Fulghum/The Best of Times - Gale Fulghum (2004).pdf |
| Speaks Chapel obituary (2007) | Funeral home obituary | speakschapel.com |
| Doris Fulghum obituary (2014) | Funeral home obituary | signaturefunerals.com |
Data Discrepancies
| Field | Source A | Source B | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biological mother | "Sybil Orille" (memoir) | Sybil Dora Holt (WikiTree Holt-14739) | Resolved: "Orille" was married name "Orrill"; maiden name was Holt |
| Biological father | "Jack Orille" (memoir) | Clinton Woodward "Jack" Orrill (WikiTree) | Resolved: "Jack" was Clinton's known nickname. Spelling "Orille" was phonetic. |
| Relationship to Holts | "Foster grandparents" (memoir) | Great-uncle/aunt (WikiTree) | Resolved: John William Holt was brother of Sybil's father Noah Caswell Holt |