Norris Lyle Fullmer

Norris Lyle Fullmer Obituary

Norris Lyle Fullmer, 87, formerly of Menan, passed away April 17, 2026, at his home in Köln (Cologne), Germany, with his wife Angie by his side.

Lyle was born December 27, 1938, at his grandparents’ home in Annis. He was the first of seven children born to Norris Fullmer and Donna Scott Fullmer. He grew up on the family farm in Menan, and shared many FFA awards throughout high school with his younger brother, Ross.

Lyle graduated from Rigby High School in 1957, and attended Ricks College for 2 years. He then served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Swiss-Austrian Mission. Upon returning from his mission, he attended Utah State University, graduating with high honors in English, civics, and history in 1965.

While working at a resort in Arizona during a summer break he met Nellie Rae Whatcott of Cedar City, Utah. They married January 11, 1963. Their marriage was blessed by the births of three children, Francie, Jan, and Barbie.

After graduating from USU, he took a job teaching civics and U.S. history at Rigby Junior High School, as well as working with his father and brothers on the expanded family farm. After a few years, he moved his family to Canby, Oregon, to continue his teaching career, and they later moved to central Germany, where he taught English at a German college prep high school (Gymnasium) and coached basketball. Lyle had a charismatic personality and had a great influence on his students, both in America and Germany, many of whom still claim him as their favorite teacher.

After two years in Germany, he returned with his family to southern Utah. It was there that Lyle and Nellie divorced. After working outside of education, he returned to Germany in 1976, where he resumed his teaching career.

In 1976, he met Angelika Richter while both were working with a Fulbright Society foreign exchange program in Cologne. They began dating two years later and were married August 2, 1984. They have enjoyed traveling throughout Europe and the United States, often together with Angie’s parents who also lived in Cologne.

Lyle loved to cook for family and friends, especially Mediterranean cuisine. He was an avid reader and enjoyed many sports and physical activities, including riding horses (in Germany he became known among his friends and students as “Der Cowboy aus Idaho”), fishing the creeks and rivers of his home state, skiing in the Alps, vacationing on the French Riviera, and organizing and coaching basketball groups in Germany. His great loves were people, his career as a teacher, and basketball.

Several years ago, Lyle suffered two strokes that greatly limited his mobility, but not his spirit.

Survivors include his wife, Angie, of Cologne, Germany, children Francine (Stonnie) Pollock, Midland, Texas, Jan (Angie) Fullmer, Henderson, Nevada, Barbie (Tracy) Feltner, Cedar City, Utah, sister Beverly Bishop, Orem, Utah, brothers Dean (Carol), Menan, Scott (Christina) Idaho Falls, and Boyd of Boise, sister-in-law Reneé Fullmer, Sugar City, brother-in-law Charles Taylor, Rigby, as well as 10 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren with another on the way. He was preceded in death by his parents, Angie’s parents: Hans and Leonore Richter, brother Ross, sister Elaine Taylor, and brother-in-law, Ray Bishop.

Funeral services and burial will be May 15, 2026, Rolandstrasse 1, 50677 Köln(Cologne) Germany under the direction of Leo Kuckelkorn Bestattungen.