Ex-officer founded education foundation
Harlow Fullwood Jr., a former Baltimore police
officer who made his fortune operating fried-chicken
franchises and established a foundation that
has helped more than 1,000 students attend college,
died of diabetes complications Saturday at Woodbridge
Valley ManorCare in Catonsville. He was 65.
Mr. Fullwood died just hours after his foundation's
annual benefit and award breakfast, which was
attended by more than 2,000.
"He was holding on to make sure that everything
went on as he scheduled it to go," said
his daughter, Paquita Fullwood-Stokes of Randallstown.
Born in a small town near Asheville, N.C.,
Mr. Fullwood was primarily raised by his grandmother
because his mother, a domestic worker, and his
father, a bus porter, worked long hours, said
Herbert C. Sledge Jr., a friend who helped him
write his autobiography.
He graduated 10th in his class from Stephens-Lee
High School in Asheville in 1959. He was awarded
a football scholarship to Virginia Union University,
where he met his future wife, Elnora Bassett.
An All-American football player, Mr. Fullwood
was drafted by both the Baltimore Colts and
the Buffalo Bills in 1963. He signed with the
Colts but was cut after a brief stint in training
camp.
He then joined the Baltimore Police Department,
where he served for 23 years, primarily as a
police recruiter. During his time with the police
force, he earned an associate's degree from
what was then the Community College of Baltimore
and completed a bachelor's degree in sociology
at Virginia Union University.
As a police officer, he was called "Officer
Friendly," Mr. Sledge said. He led police-sponsored
trips that took the city's young people to tour
college campuses, canoe on the Pocomoke River
and swim at Ocean City.
He was presented with a Distinguished Service
Award when he left the Police Department in
1986. But it was his second career, as an owner
of KFC franchises, that enabled Mr. Fullwood
to realize his dream of establishing a charitable
foundation.
At the time, the fast-food chain had signed
an agreement with an organization led by the
Rev. Jesse Jackson to extend more economic opportunities
to minorities. Although he had no business experience,
Mr. Fullwood persuaded the company to grant
him franchises and he opened two restaurants,
one in Parkville and one on West Franklin Street,
in 1984. He won the company's highest honor
for franchisees during his first year in business.
At one point, he ran six KFC franchises, Mr.
Sledge said, working 18-hour days and enlisting
the help of his wife, son and daughter. He tried
to provide jobs for black teenagers, he told
The Sun in 1986. "I wanted a store in the
inner city," he said. "That's where
I came from, and the people who live there are
the ones responsible for my success." He
eventually sold all of the restaurants except
for the one on West Franklin Street.
In 1988, Mr. Fullwood and his wife created
the Fullwood Foundation to support charities,
provide scholarships for worthy students and
recognize outstanding residents.
"In all my years on the beat, I never
arrested a man or woman who had a good education
and a good job, and that told me something,"
Mr. Fullwood told The Sun in a 1989 interview.
"The difference between me and the man
in the penitentiary is that someone gave me
a chance."
The foundation has given hundreds of thousands
of dollars to nonprofit organizations and awarded
scholarships to more than 1,000 students. Many
of those students attended Mr. Fullwood's alma
mater, Virginia Union University.
"He had a clear vision in his mind of
what he wanted to do," said Sherman N.
Miller, a syndicated columnist who interviewed
Mr. Fullwood for one of his books. "I think
his real strength was to give away what he had
rather than hold on to what he had."
Emerson H. Burrell Sr. of Baltimore said that
the life of his son, Emerson H. Burrell Jr.,
was changed when he received a scholarship from
the Fullwood Foundation.
"I know it's taught my son the value of
giving back to the community," he said,
adding that his son is now employed by a nonprofit
organization.
Over the years, the foundation's awards breakfast
has grown to become one of the area's most notable
fundraising events. Although Mr. Fullwood's
health prevented him from attending Saturday's
event, a statue of him, on loan from the Great
Blacks in Wax Museum, presided over the guests,
Mr. Sledge said.
Mr. Sledge said that he greeted the crowd using
the words that Mr. Fullwood spoke each year
at the beginning of the breakfast: "Good
morning, all you chicken eaters."
Mr. Fullwood was a member of civic, charitable
and educational organizations and received awards
for excellence in business and community service.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete.
In addition to his wife and daughter, he is
survived by a son, Harlow Fullwood III of Catonsville;
a brother, Everett Fullwood of Baltimore; two
sisters, Joan Johnson of Belcamp and Joyce Hatcher
of Pikesville; and three grandchildren.
