| Walter Fuller loved his family, planes and sports, especially the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Dallas Cowboys.
As a child, he would coerce his two sisters and brother into playing tackle football in cow pastures on the family’s sprawling ranch in Somis.
He studied religion at Pepperdine University in Malibu but ultimately followed his passion for planes into the airline industry.
A veteran air traffic controller and tower manager at Burbank Airport, Fuller, 54, was commuting home to Simi Valley on Friday when the crash occurred.
“He had a great sense of humor,” said his twin sister, Annette Spandrio of Moorpark, who was born four minutes after him.
Family always came first for the father of three, said his other sister, Vanessa Pagenkopf of Magnolia, Texas.
He insisted his sisters be allowed to participate in pickup sports as kids, at a time when girls weren’t always welcome to play in otherwise all-boys games. “It was unfathomable to him to not include us,” Pagenkopf said. “He would never leave us behind. Not all older brothers would do that.”
Fuller was nicknamed “Grandpa” for his premature gray hair. He loved practical jokes and kept a jar of candy on his desk.
He got an early introduction to planes from his father, Larry Fuller, a tailgunner in the Air Force who later earned a pilot’s license and would take Walter on sightseeing trips, his sisters said. Fuller eventually became a pilot himself.
At Pepperdine, he met his wife, Jenny. The two sang a cappella, Pagenkopf recalled.
He excelled at cooking, his chocolate cheesecake earning raves. He was a regular at Cornerstone Church and led men’s Bible study groups. He was a former deacon at Simi Valley Church of Christ.
“He loved all sports: football, baseball, anything with a ball in the name,” Spandrio said. “But he especially loved the Cowboys and Dodgers.”
Fuller also is survived by son Casey Fuller and daughters Kelly Anne Loftis and Kristi Fuller, all of Simi Valley; parents Larry and Ginny Fuller of Somis; a brother, Tom Fuller of La Conchita; and 11 nieces and nephews. |
