Donor Profile: Dr. Richard Fuller

Dick Fuller’s many contributions to Scouting include not only serving as a leader during his high school and college years, but also mentoring family members in Scouting, leading in the community, and extending generosity to those who are disabled.
 

Dick Fuller was born at a U.S. Army MASH Unit in Austria in 1953 where his father was stationed as an Army Oral Surgeon.  His family returned to the United States in 1955 and in 1957 they settled in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the Highland neighborhood. He graduated from Highland Park Senior High School in St. Paul in 1971. 

In 1975, he received a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) with honors from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota with double majors in Chemistry and Biology and a minor in Psychology. He graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in 1979, and practiced in Eagan for many years, contributing his expertise to the Minnesota Dental Disaster I.D. Team and Dakota County Medical Reserve Corps.

Dick’s Scouting career started as a Cub Scout at Macalester Presbyterian Church, where his father was an Assistant Cubmaster and eventually Assistant Scoutmaster. The pack and troop camped at various locations over the years including the Kiwanis Scout Camp in Marine on St. Croix and Tomahawk and Fred C. Andersen camps. Dick earned the rank of Life Scout and was just a few merit badges short of acquiring his Eagle rank. He attended YMCA’s Camp Widjiwagan near Ely, Minnesota and the Boundary Waters in the summers of junior high and high school and was unable to obtain the required merit badges that you could only get at Scout camp. During high school he helped start an Explorer Post, and along with his troop they did a lot of camping at Fred C. Andersen and Tomahawk Scout camps.

He put his camping and orienteering skills to good use during the month-long J (January) term as a student at Gustavus, where he led a Winter Wilderness Survival Camp at the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Isabella, MN, (now in Finland, MN), teaching students to cross country ski and snowshoe. He also taught and did a lot of winter camping there which culminated in a five-day dogsled trip.

Dick is a past District Chairman for Chief Black Dog District of  Northern Star Council and is active with Northern Star Council, Boy Scouts of America. One particularly memorable trip was when General Andreotti of the Minnesota National Guard invited members of the District Committees to fly with him on a C130 to Camp Ripley for a camporee. At that event Scouts were learning about Merit Badges and experiencing what it was like to be on a military base.

Over the years he has mentored his nephews, all of whom became Eagle Scouts, and great nephews in Scouting, helping them with Merit Badges in Dentistry, First Aid, Orienteering, and Cross Country and Alpine Skiing, to name a few.

Involved in many community activities, Dr. Fuller is a 1987 Charter Member of the Rotary International Club of Eagan, MN  and is the Charter Partner Rep for their Scouting units. In addition, Dick is a past member of the Advisory Committee for the Southwest Area YMCA.

Dr. Fuller and his wife Valerie live in Apple Valley, and in the summer, they enjoy boating on the St Croix River.  You may also see him crewing the St. Croix River Valley Let’s Go Fishing pontoon out of Bayport Marina which allows disabled people, retirement home residents, veterans, and kids to go fishing or enjoy a boat ride.

Dick has been a member of both the National Ski Patrol System and has patrolled in the winter at Afton Alps Ski Area since 1985. In addition, he volunteers at Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute as an adaptive ski coach for Alpine and Nordic skiing, and serves on the Dakota County Sheriff Citizen Advisory Council.

His contributions to Scouting include being a faithful Annual Fund donor and including the Scouts in his estate plan. He also lobbies the Eagan Rotary to contribute to Scouting annually.

Dick says he gives to Scouting because “it is a proven program that has contributed to bringing up young people to be positive and supportive members of our community.” He hopes that you too will support Scouting so we can keep offering a program that is proven to work and promoting strong men and women who will be an asset to our communities in the future.

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Donor Profile: Dr. Richard Fuller