Deptford senior citizen Bobbie Simon remembers spending hours on the telephone with Frank Fulbrook, the Camden activist who died last week and whose funeral was Friday at Sacred Heart Church. Frank was 64 and to my knowledge never had a brief conversation, on or off the phone, in his life.
"I knew more about Camden from him than I read in the paper," Bobbie tells me from her seat in the front pew, a spot reserved for family.
Bobbie, you see, is Frank's mother. And as people from all over the city and beyond file past the open casket, she and I chat briefly about the unusual and utterly dedicated public servant who was her son -- a blue-collar boy who grew up to become his city's champion.
"He won 14 out of 15 lawsuits," his mother says, without mentioning that Frank taught himself everything he knew about the legal system. Which was pretty much everything there is to know about it.
Whether in the courtroom, the classroom or in the city council chamber, Frank looked as if every day was Woodstock (his work boots were displayed among the blue and white flowers at his funeral). To Frank, what mattered wasn't the outfit, but the research, the facts, the fine points in the far pages of the municipal code.
"I know he did a lot [for Camden], but I can't believe the turnout," Bobbie says, her voice breaking. "It's overwhelming."
I realize that people are waiting to see her. I stand up, shake her hand.
"Of course I was proud of him," Bobbie says. "I am proud of him."
--KEVIN RIORDAN