Street & Smith's gives nod to Hawks
Iowa’s 2006 football team continues to gain pre-season recognition. The latest comes from Street & Smith’s 2006 College Football Yearbook, which ranks Iowa’s 21st nationally in its pre-season poll.
The Hawkeyes have been to four straight January bowl games and are rated in just about all pre-season top-25 rankings.
Individually, the Hawkeyes had a number of players singled out by Street & Smith’s. Junior defensive end Ken Iwebema has been named to its second all-America team. Picked for the honorable mention all-America team are junior running back Albert Young along with kicker Kyle Schlicher, tightend Scott Chandler and quarterback Drew Tate. All three will be seniors this season.
Young, Schlicher, Iwebema and senior offensive lineman Mike Elgin have been picked on Street & Smith’s first pre-season all-Big Ten team.
Miller: Hawkeyes Living Under Lucky Stars
Iowa has done well with 'fallback' candidates as of late. Bob Bowlsby was not Iowa's first choice as athletics director, Kirk Ferentz was not the first choice to replace Hayden Fry, and Gary Barta's name was not on the tip of your tounge when it came for replacing Bob Bowlsby as athletics director. But it appears that Iowa may have one again found the right guy for the job.
After 50 years, beloved dentist retires
When Richard Fuller was a young boy, maybe 4 years old, his parents took him to a dentist in downtown Des Moines.
The stern old man gave the lad a strict warning, that Fuller, now 76, recalls to this day: "You make one move and I'll slap you to sleep!"
Young Fuller sat still and petrified in the chair as the codger worked his teeth, but the boy made a solemn vow.
"I swore that if I ever became a dentist, I'd never treat a kid - I'd never treat anybody - like that man did me," Fuller said.
Become a dentist he did, graduating from the University of Iowa dental school in 1956. He set up practice on Des Moines' east side near his other favorite alma mater, East High School.
Fuller, whose practice was at 2822 E. 29th St., finally hung up his drill earlier this month after a half century tending to the teeth of east-siders - always with a touch of tenderness for his patients and a driving passion for his community.
"Dad had simple rules about life: Work hard, be honest and give back," said son Steven Fuller, who followed his father into dentistry.
In fact, the elder Fuller inspired a legion of dentists. Steven Fuller operates a practice in Altoona in addition to having worked in Des Moines with his father. Karen Edwards, the elder Fuller's daughter, is a hygienist in the east-side office, and his nephew, Fred Fuller, runs a practice just blocks away.
There are cousins, nieces and nephews in dentistry all over the country, from the U.S. military to California.
"I wasn't the first," Richard Fuller said. "When I went to U of I, I found a picture of somebody from the 1800s who was a Fuller in dentistry. He was an uncle or great uncle or some such thing. I guess it's just in our blood."
Also in Fuller's blood, he said, are a lot of colors. He metaphorically bleeds black and red for his beloved East Scarlets, black and gold for his Iowa Hawkeyes and, on occasion, blue and white, for Drake University, where he holds season tickets for men's basketball.
He has attended nearly ever East softball game since Bob Savage took over as coach in 1951. Savage is still the pitching coach for East, though he no longer drives. So Fuller, a longtime friend, gives him a ride to the games. Fuller hauls the famed coach's special stool out beside the dugout where Savage perches and glowers during games.
"There is no bigger East High booster than Richard Fuller," Savage said. "He's not the kind of guy who builds himself up, but he's the guy you go to when you want to get something done. He's as proud an east-sider as I've ever known."
In fact, Fuller said he's so much an East booster that when a family member recently attended Roosevelt High School, Fuller told him: "I'll cheer for you during every game but one. When you play East, I hope you lose."
There's a secret life to Richard Fuller, his son, Steven, said. For example, Richard Fuller would gather his family on Thanksgiving and Christmas and serve meals to the less fortunate members of the east-side community.
Fuller helped bring AAU tournaments to East High School, raising thousands of dollars for East athletics and the booster club. He spent countless hours taking tickets, sweeping floors and serving concessions to keep the program running.
Financially struggling Grand View College students never needed to worry about where they would get dental care. If a toothache needed tending, someone got word that "Doc Fuller" was willing to help out. And he did so quietly, without hubbub or fuss.
"There are probably thousands of things big and small he's done for people over the years that nobody knows about but him and the person he did it for," the younger Fuller said. "That's the way he wants it. It's not about him."
These days, though, Fuller's life is about him. He's retired. No more Novocain shots, root canals or X-rays. After five decades of dentistry, he's shifted gears and, at least through summer, will be busy with Scarlet softball to keep him occupied. In the fall, there will be Hawkeye football games. Winter brings Drake and Iowa basketball.
After that, though, Fuller might find himself with too much time on his hands.
"Oh, I'll figure something out," he said. "There's always something going on in this part of town."
