Stella Fuller Settlement
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David Smith Stella Fuller ministered to the needy in
Huntington for more
than 60 years, first sa a member of the Salvation Army and then as
director of her own settlement house at 128 Washington Ave.
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HUNTINGTON -- Stella Fuller (1883-1981) ministered to
the needy of Huntington for more than
60 years, first as a member of the Salvation Army, then as head of her own
Stella Fuller Settlement.
Born Stella Lewis Cremeans in Point Pleasant, West Virginia,
she grew up in rural Mason County.
At age 19 she moved to Huntington, where she attended business school.
After graduation
she moved to Welch, West Virginia, to work for a law firm. She returned to
Huntington after marrying Elmer Fuller in 1907.
Attracted by its religious and charitable programs, she joined
the Salvation Army
in 1916, embarking on an Army career that would span more than 25 years.
At first she worked as a volunteer, then later
was hired as a part-time secretary.
But in January 1943, long-simmering problems between Fuller
and the Army came
to a head, and she left to found her own settlement house. Officially, the
break came because a recreational softball team she had organized
was playing games on Sundays and continued to
do so even after they were ordered to stop.
But Fuller was increasingly unhappy with the Army's many rules
and regulations and determined
to do what she thought was best. And that's exactly what she did for the
next 38 years
at the Stella Fuller Settlement, located at 128 Washington Ave.
in one of Huntington's poorest neighborhoods.
In her final years before her death at age 97, ill health
forced Stella Fuller to turn over
operation of the settlement to her son, Robert Fuller Jr. In 2008, she was
posthumously inducted into the Greater Huntington Wall of Fame in
recognition of her lifelong efforts in helping the community's poor
and disadvantaged. In 2009, the Stella Fuller Settlement ceased
operations, and the building that housed it was
badly damaged by fire in 2012.
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Note: This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Jan. 17, 2017.
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