Obituary of Zdenka Fuller

WESTPORT, CONN Zdenka “Kiki” Meloun Fuller died peacefully on May 18th at the age of 91 surrounded by her family. Kiki was a Westport resident since 1966 and was born in Prague, Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia). Her parents were journalist Frantisek Meloun and his wife Viktorie. After WWII, during which time the Nazis occupied their country, Zdenka’s father moved the family to London, England where he was a foreign correspondent. She attended Queens College, the London Polytechnic, and Pittman’s College. Just as they were preparing to return to Prague, the communists took over Czechoslovakia and the Meloun family decided to stay abroad. They spent five years in England, and then relocated to Munich, Germany, where both she and her father worked for Radio Free Europe, a radio station supported by the U.S. Government broadcasting anti-communist information behind the Iron Curtain. It was in Munich that she met her future husband, Joseph Fuller, an architect who had escaped from communist Czechoslovakia into Germany. They married a few months after meeting and decided to pursue the American dream. In 1953 they arrived in New York. An aunt, Elaine Saxonmeyer, picked them up at the airport and brought them to her home in Westport. They loved the town since their first day and visited constantly. After 13 years in New York City (and two children later), they built their house in Westport and moved in in 1966. When the children entered teenage years, Zdenka went back to work for a conglomerate in Greenwich, where she was a senior legal assistant for 15 years and was in charge of their extensive law library. She retired early when the company was taken over by a California conglomerate and the Greenwich office closed. Joe Fuller Senior passed in 2003, at which time his firm Fuller & D’Angelo, Architects and Planners were working on the latest renovation of Staples High School. Their son, Westporter Joe Fuller Jr., who also became an architect and worked with his father, took over completion of the project. Zdenka was a member of the Young Women’s League and in her later years belonged to the International Club of Lower Fairfield County. The Fullers enjoyed outdoors and spent many hours sailing Long Island Sound on their boat Sunset, skiing in Vermont and took yearly ski trips to the European Alps. Zdenka loved to travel and besides visiting her country of birth many times after the Iron Curtain fell, she also took several memorable trips to different countries that interested her. She enjoyed reading, keeping in touch with her family abroad and many friends near and far, first by lengthy correspondence and later e-mailing. Besides being ready to help with anything her family needed, she enjoyed cooking, entertaining and when time permitted writing short stories. With both of her children and two granddaughters living in Westport, she was surrounded by family to whom she was devoted till her last day. She is survived by her daughter, Victoria Fuller of Westport, her son Joseph Fuller, Jr. of Westport and her two granddaughters, Elizabeth (Liza) and Alexandra (Lexy) Barlow, also of Westport, as well as her two brothers Paul Meloun and Thomas Meloun, both living in Alabama. Kiki’s funeral will take place at Christ & Holy Trinity Church in Westport, CT on Friday, May 21st at 3 pm, followed by a burial at Willowbrook Cemetery and a reception at her home in Westport. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Yale Smilow Cancer Center, The LustGarten Foundation, Soundwaters, or a charity of your choice. The Harding Funeral Home is directing arrangements.