Elizabeth Duna Furst Fullerton, age 87, died on July 17, 2025, while on a trip to Bergen, Norway.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Rev. John "Dan" Fullerton. She is survived by her beloved children, Cheryl Lydia Fisher (Ronald) and Bruce Drysdale Williamson (Ruth), along with grandchildren Katelyn Duna Becker (Braden), Ethan Bradley Fisher and Maxwell Ian Williamson; great-granddaughter Ila Hale Becker; and siblings Rev. Ronald Furst (Hildegard), Sister Anne and George Furst (Youngsuk).
"Those of us close to Duna were blessed by her spunk for life, her energy, generosity, curiosity, and most notably, her willingness to help others," a family member wrote.
Born in Angwa provence, China, to parents who were teachers in the Kuling American School, Duna lived in Irvington, Poughkeepsie and Wappingers Falls, New York, and, for the past 40 years, in Ossining, New York.
Duna was a graduate of Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, (where she received a bachelor's degree in mathematics) and SUNY New Paltz (where she earned a master's in teaching K-6). She returned to New Paltz in 1977 to take computer languages, math and electronics with an aim to work in the computer industry. Duna began her career at IBM as a technical writer and retired 21 years later as a senior engineer.
At heart, Duna was a teacher. She taught arts and crafts, Sunday School, guitar, music at St. Martin de Porres in Poughkeepsie, computer concepts to IBMers and IBM customers. She especially enjoyed giving classes in foreign countries. Retiring from IBM in 2001, she spent six years as a volunteer math professor at Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka. While in Sitka, she was secretary of the Alaska Native Sisterhood and in 2006 was named by ANS as Woman of the Year.
It was in Alaska in 2006 that she fell in love with a Presbyterian pastor from Texas - Rev. Dan Fullerton – and married him, with full fanfare, in 2008. The marriage was a delight for them both, ending sadly in 2018, when Dan died of cancer.
Wherever she found herself, she sang and played her guitar. She was choir director in Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, Ossining, and Sitka. She was enormously proud that she leaves hundreds of guitar players behind – playing and singing and bringing folks of diverse backgrounds together to enjoy the music and, more than that, enjoying and appreciating each other.
A devout Presbyterian, Duna was an enthusiastic participant in the life of each church she belonged to. In Ossining, she was clerk of the governing body of the Ossining Presbyterian Church, singing in the choir and participating in all the activities. She was well-known in the community, organizing the annual Thanksgiving Dinner Party providing 400 meals for folks. Everything she did was done with energy and joy and love.
An avid outdoorswoman, Duna enjoyed tennis, biking, hiking, and pickleball, many of these well into her 80s. She traveled extensively, enjoying meeting people from various countries. Her favorite travels involved activities that left the destination better off, such as weeks in Moscow on an archaeological dig, digitalizing 1990 photos in Peru, fixing hurricane-damaged homes in New Orleans and Puerto Rico. A world traveler, Duna visited every continent on Earth except Australia.
Duna's favorite moments were with her family; she planned bi-annual vacations with her children and grandchildren. They played tennis together, held book clubs, talent shows, jet skied, kayaked, biked, hiked, sang, put puzzles together, and had quiet conversations. She loved taking her family to New York City for Broadway shows, Lincoln Center operas, and wonderful dinners.
Friends are invited to visit with the family 10 a.m. October 18 followed by a memorial service at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Ossining, 34 South Highland Avenue, Ossining. She will be interred at Highland Cemetery in Lock Haven, PA, alongside her husband Dan, her mother and father and grandparents. She will be dearly missed by her family and friends.
