Tim Fullin was quite a character.

As most people of a certain age seem to do, I always read the obituaries in our local paper. Today I read that Tim Fullin had died. He was a good friend and a very nice man. When I was a child my father told me: “It is better to have character than to be one. But if you have character and are one, you will have lots of real friends.”

I think that all of his friends and family would agree that Tim combined the two seamlessly. He was quite a fellow. Just ask those people who, when Timmy delivered oil in the middle of the winter many years ago, discovered that Tim had gone into their houses in the middle of the winter to shut off their water when a pipe burst. Just ask the students from the regional high school who received scholarships from money raised at the annual Holy Ghost Society golf tournament that he worked on and was so devoted to for many years.

Ask those people for whom he did innumerable favors over the years. Ask his friends at Mink Meadows to whom he brought years of jokes, friendship and his great competitive spirit. He was a member of the Noonies, the Wednesday Night League and the early morning group on Saturdays and Sundays. He was also the club champ twice in the late 1990s.

Tim may not have been an important man in the traditional meaning of the word. He wasn’t a politician or banker, or rich. But talk to the beautiful family he left behind and the customers of the business he built. Just ask the people from all walks of life who became his friends and you will find out that he was a very important man. He was funny, charming, sincere and quite a character. Most important, he had great character. He was one of the hidden treasures who make this Island wonderful.

God bless him. He will be missed.

John C. Verret
Chilmark