February Senior of the Month is Genevia Fulton
Genevia Fulton is known around Newcastle as the “pie lady.” Those who know, say her pies are amazing.
She was born at home in Tabler, Oklahoma, to a hard-working mom of nine. She spent her childhood picking cotton. Her daddy would get paid $1.10 per 100 pounds of cotton pulled and would let her keep 10 cents of every 100 pounds she pulled.
She left home at age 14 because she was tired of picking cotton and not getting to go to school until after harvest was done. This led her to a job cooking breakfast and lunch for people at George’s Photography in Chickasha. Later she became a colorist, painting photographs before natural color came to be.
About age 17 she married Odis Deal Fulton when he returned home from World War II, and several years later they began raising a family. She is very proud of her five children and the fact that they all graduated from Newcastle Public Schools as she and Odis never had the opportunity to graduate high school.
Every Easter she enjoyed making clothes for all her children. Years were spent volunteering as a docent at the Cowboy Hall of Fame and helping the Newcastle Sr. Center get its start.
That start began when a young preacher helped coordinate a group get-together in Newcastle. As more and more began to gather, they decided to create a Senior Center. Mr. Branum (an attorney in Newcastle) helped make it legal. If that was not enough to keep her busy, she also enjoyed gardening and watching bull rid- ing.
In 1973 she lost her home to a tornado and several of her women friends got together and showered her with gifts to help replace what she lost.
Fulton has been in Newcastle since 1962 when only a couple of businesses existed. One was a tiny grocery store next to the high school. The First Baptist Church was her church home and welcomed nine different pastors while she attended there.
In her lifetime she has visited most of the United States and met the politicians Fred Harris, David Hall, and George Nigh. She loves biscuits and gravy and the song, “Waltz across Texas.”
Her advice is to garden — making your own food and eating it. She says all should learn to can food to preserve it. Stay active. Be contrary.
She misses her hearing and not being able to tell what people are saying, even the nice things and she wishes she could dance despite her two left feet.
Newcastle Sr. Center invites every senior citizen in the community to join them at the center for noon meals, which actually begin at 11:15 a.m. Monday – Friday, and to check out the opportunities for games, crafts and community fellowship.
The center is located at 504 OK-130 in Newcastle. Their phone number is 405387-2100. Meals are $5 each and include salad bar, entrée, drink and dessert.
It has been said that the meals there are the best bargain in town.
