Mary Emma Lee Fulkerson, 93 of Utica, passed away at Norton Brownsboro Hospital in Louisville on Holy Saturday, April 4, 2026. She was born on December 21, 1932 in Whitesville to the late Samuel Alphonse and Della Agnes Boarman Hardesty. She was a loving mother of 9 children
Emma Lee led a very active life and was not known for sitting still for long, except when it came to practicing her Catholic faith. Her bubbly personality, fascination with life, and magnetic personality made her loved by almost everyone. She will be sorely missed by those whose lives were brightened with her contagious smile and tender kindness.
In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, Billy J. Fulkerson, children Carolyn, Mary, Edward and Bruce; and her siblings, Frank, Thomas (Delphine), Gerald (Dorothy) and George (Brenda)Hardesty and Dorothy (Tony) Mattingly
Emma is survived by four sons and a daughter, Barry (Susie), Sheila (Charlie) Jarboe, Danny (Tina) and Marty (Teri) all of Utica and Norman of Clermont Florida; 14 grandchildren; 34 great grandchildren; and 3 great great-grandchildren; her siblings, Clifford (Marie), Kenneth (Karen) and Victor Hardesty; a sister-in-law, Martha Hardesty and a special caregiver, Jared Jarboe.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests masses be said for the repose of her eternal soul at St. Paul’s Chapel.
A Funeral Mass will be said at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, April 13, 2026 at St. Paul’s Chapel, 629 E. Louisiana St, Evansville, IN 47711, with Father Gavin Bitzer presiding. Burial will follow at 2:00 p.m. at St. Mary of the Woods Cemetery in Whitesville, KY. Visitation will be on Sunday, April 12, 2026 from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with the Rosary at 6:00 p.m. at Cecil Funeral Home in Whitesville, KY.