By Ashley McCarty
People’s Defender
A local legend is lost with the passing of Louis Fulton, 84, of Peebles, Ohio.
Fulton was born April 29, 1937, in Locust Grove, Ohio, to Harold and Thelma Fulton, and passed away on Monday, June 14.
Fulton was the Sheriff of Adams County from 1973 to 1984. Before him, his father served as Adams County Sheriff from 1952 to 1964. It was during this time that Fulton began to develop his interest in law enforcement.
Fulton and his family lived above the jailhouse on West Mulberry Street in West Union, Ohio.
“My [father] had one deputy, but he didn’t have any paid dispatchers. I started dispatching for him because I was always there hanging around the jail. I guess it just got into my blood,” said Fulton in a former interview with the Defender’s Patricia Beech.
Fulton’s career as sheriff, while full of mundane, everyday tasks, held sparks of intrigue and terror. He has sustained gunshot wounds and has brought killer Robert Dale Henderson to justice for the murder of a county family.
One case he never forgot was the murder of Billy Freeman in 1974 which, as of today, still remains unsolved.
“The best thing about being the Sheriff was that it gave me the opportunity to help people,” he had said.
After his career as Sheriff, he would transition to a security position at General Electric in Peebles, Ohio. After 12 years, he received a convincing call from former County Court Judge Alan Foster, and Fulton would come to work in his courtroom as a bailiff. After 16 years, he would retire due to health reasons.
“I would have been about 20 [when I met Louis]. I worked at the Ohio Division of Wildlife at the time. Somehow I got to know Louis, and he put me on as a special deputy. In 1973, I went to work full-time with him,” said current Adams County Sheriff Kimmy Rogers.
Anybody who knew him liked him, he said.
“He lived a pretty good life, and he lived a happy life. Every time you saw him he was in a good mood. Nobody that I know of enjoyed life like Louis Fulton. When I heard about his passing, I saw it on Facebook. Somebody made a comment that said, ‘one of the best,” said Rogers.
Rogers commented below it — “the best.”
“There was always something new happening [back then]. We were over in the old jail then. Back then, everything was different. We were arresting bootleggers, moonshine stills; drugs hadn’t hit yet. Back then, we had a lot of bar fights. I was with Louis one time when he got shot, but he didn’t get hurt bad. I was with him one time and both of us got shot at, and neither one of us got hit,” he said, laughing, “I was driving the getaway car.”
Aberdeen Chief of Police David Benjamin is the great-nephew of Fulton.
“We come from a long line of law enforcement. His father was a sheriff, of course; my grandfather was a deputy sheriff at Adams County and then came to work at the Aberdeen Police Department in the 1950s. It’s truly a public servant family,” said Benjamin.
Fulton didn’t know a stranger, he said.
“He could strike up a conversation with anybody. He always had a smile on his face, and he made anyone he spoke with comfortable. His laughter was infectious,” said Benjamin.
He made everyone feel at home, he said.
“It’s a sad thing, [his passing]. Of course, you know my faith. Louis had touched a lot of lives and made a lot of difference in this world. It’s sad to see a true icon — a legend if you will — pass on. It saddens us, but at the same time, we feel very blessed to have had him in our lives,” said Benjamin.
Every time Benjamin saw him, Fulton was always encouraging him.
“He would always ask me how things were going, and he would always encourage me to keep working as hard as I could. He always uplifted me. I feel very honored to have had him as a family member,” said Benjamin.
Fulton leaves behind his wife, Sue Fulton, daughter, Kathy Knauff, sons David, Rick and Terrance Thomas, a sister, Janet Johnson, 11 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. His funeral was held June 19 at Union Hill Church in Peebles. He rests in Locust Grove Cemetery.