BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer
The Rev. William C. Fuller, pastor at Union Missionary Baptist Church in Middletown, recently retired as chaplain for the Monmouth County Correctional Institution. RED BANK — After 20 years in prison, the Rev. William C. Fuller was recently pardoned by Sheriff Joseph Oxley.
His time in prison was voluntary, however, and for 10 years he even got paid.
The mock pardon from Oxley came on the occasion of Fuller’s retirement from his position as chaplain of the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township. Fuller, 86, held the post officially for the past 10 years and acted as a volunteer minister for 10 years previously.
“Be it further known, that a condition of this pardon is that said Reverend William C. Fuller is hereby ordered to relax and enjoy life, knowing that his contributions to the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office made a difference in the lives of all whom he encountered,” the pardon stated.
The pardon, along with a plaque from the Monmouth County Correctional Institution and a plaque from the county Board of Chosen Freeholders proclaiming March 12 as Rev. William C. Fuller Day, were presented to him at his retirement party.
“They got me right up there with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln,” said Fuller, Marion Street, jokingly. “They all have a day; now I have a day.
“I didn’t think they thought so much of me,” he said.
“The inmates looked at him like a father in ministry there,” said Naomi, Fuller’s wife for more than 50 years. “He always treated them with dignity. He made them feel that although they were locked in, they were never locked out of anything.”
Fuller, who is the pastor at Union Missionary Baptist Church, Middletown, said that he was open to all faiths in his work at the prison.
“We didn’t have any barriers,” he said. “I welcomed all ministries interested in helping.”
Fuller said he was also open to letting someone else help in ministering to certain problems.
“I’ve never been an alcoholic, so if someone was talking to me about a drinking problem, I would have someone else, maybe someone who had a problem in the past and got over it, talk to them,” Fuller said.
Naomi, who volunteers in ministering at the women’s correctional institution, said that Fuller always encouraged people in prison to go back to school, telling them there was a continuing education program in the prison for those who dropped out of high school.
She also said that any of the inmates who wanted a copy of the Bible would get one, and when they were released, they could keep it.
“It was precious to them,” she said. “It was something that belonged to them.”
Fuller and Naomi would collect clothes so that inmates would have clothes when they were released, or when they had to go to court.
Fuller’s responsibility as chaplain was to coordinate ministries in all faiths for inmates, securing ministers, arranging services and ensuring that spiritual guidance was available to all who wished to participate.
Fuller was called to his work as a minister in 1943 at the Bethel Baptist Church in Philadelphia, and he continued his spiritual education at Temple University, New Era Institute and St. Elbria Theological Seminary, receiving Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Sacred Theology degrees.
After receiving an honorary degree from Miller University, and a Doctor of Divinity from Bowles Bible Institute, Fuller served as assistant pastor of New Israel Baptist Church in Pennsylvania. He then moved to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Point Pleasant, before taking his current position as pastor at Union Missionary Baptist Church.
Fuller said he has been at Union Baptist for more than 44 years.
Fuller has four daughters, two of whom are nurses, one recently retired as a clerk for the state of Pennsylvania, and one is a musician, who graduated from Monmouth University.
“I’ve been blessed,” said Fuller. “God told the prophets there’s a time to be born and a time to die. When I die, it’s my time. It’s all planned out.”