Last Monday, Jay Fullmer was laid to rest...today, the same was done for his brother Gene Fullmer, the Champ.

After attending the funeral of boxer Jay Fullmer a week ago today, I had a deep inclination to write a blog that night, to pay tribute to the Fullmer family, as three brothers were the well known legal fist fighters of the 1950's and 1960's. Once again, I was awe struck by today's funeral, and just by chance, a former co-worker and I walked in the viewing room at the same time. As he was more acquainted with the Fullmer's, I had the chance to meet and talk with some of them. Not only was Gene Fullmer the boxing champion he was, he was a champion family man; church man; mink raiser; farmer, horse breeder, but worked a full time job as welder at Kennecott. After listening to some of his family speak, Gene Fullmer could very well have been a Tolley from Juab County as he loved 4-H; FFA and quarter horses. I had never heard of it before, but Gene and his brothers Don and Jay started what was called "Smokeless Smokers", wherein they invited kids to meet at the local ward house of their LDS faith, where they put the gloves on and let the young boys slug it out. Of course, smoking was not allowed, except to smoke their opponent out. I also learned at the funeral that I wasn't the only one he had invited to punch him in the gut on a bet. Gene's son talked of how he invited several people to do that, even when he was in his seventies, as his stomach was still built like steel. On one occasion, one guy broke his wrist, on another a finger was broke. A friend paid tribute to this former Middle Weight Champion of the World, by saying Gene Fullmer had three principles he lived by, which was Honor; Self-Discipline and Prayer. I was taken back by his religious fervency, as when I came to know Gene, he didn't present himself that way, but like his knock-out punches- it was always there. When he became champion the first time in 1957, Ezra Taft  Benson came to the locker room, where Gene asked him to join him in prayer. He was one tough guy but also a true gentleman. He is said to have cried only three times in his life; when his father passed away; when his brother Don lost during a championship fight, and when his favorite horse died-"Saddlehorn".  Although I have never really been a Jazz fan, I did like Frank Layden, so it was with utmost pleasure to chat with him at the funeral, even if it was only by chance as we both were heading to the bathroom at the same time. He said one of the reasons he liked coming to Utah was because it was the home of champion Gene Fullmer.  Gene's Dad "Tuff" let his sons start to box at age six, and at twelve, Gene knew with hard work and good luck, he would become the champion of the world. In his travels, his repeated advise was "Choose your goals early, then have the guts to live up to them". He also said "We can reach the height of our potential if we keep in training and take the advise of our "Manager".  I had to check the basket of the "Memories of Gene" writings that were there. Perhaps it was to protect Gene, as I didn't want any bad stuff to be written. None were, and it was interesting that Gene Fullmer was not just a champion of the sports world, but in life. When a police officer dies in the line of duty, they often do a "Last Call" at the funeral. There is utmost silence in a reverent way, when we hear three beeps; then the dispatcher attempts to contact the fallen officer. After the third attempt, the dispatcher, on the police radio-announces that the officer is "Out of Service". Today, they did a similar sort of thing for Gene Fullmer. They  had a "10 Count Bell"  and we knew that the "Champ" was gone, but always constant in our hearts and memories. In the words of Bill Jenson(Marv Jenson's son), "He won his last fight. He broke the bonds that held him here".  The second photo is of Justin Jones who interviewed Gene as a part of a grade school project to interview a living hero. Gene was that.