Cornelia Ellen Cichon

Cornelia “Dee” Fuller Cichon passed away on, July 8, 2024 at the age of 80.

Born in her grandparents’ home on Bessie K Sugarcane Plantation in St. James, LA, she grew up in New Orleans, and was a longtime resident of Bay St. Louis, MS until Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when she moved to Gulfport, MS.

 Dee was the beloved wife of Richard Cichon Sr. and loving mother of Richard, Jr. and John.

 Dee is the daughter of the late Robert Fuller and Ellen Guidry Fuller.

 She is survived by her husband, Richard; sons, Richard, Jr. and John; and 4 grandchildren. She is also survived by siblings, Robert Fuller, David “Vann” Fuller, Michael Fuller, Mary Fuller Shelton, and Fred Fuller.

 Dee was a graduate of Dominican High School and Dominican College with a Bachelors in Fine Art and Education. She was a Dominican Nun for nine years where she taught middle school in Louisiana. A year after leaving the convent, she married and moved to Chicago with her husband. Her family moved back to the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1976 and she taught at Our Lady Academy for four years and St. Stanislaus College for the next fourteen years. She taught Art, French, Biology, Religion, and was a certified English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. She taught ESL in China five summers and tutored ESL students here in the US.

 Since 2013, Dee suffered a series of strokes and the stroke in 2020 had her bedridden until her death. Dee was a true witness for Christ spending her entire life teaching and witnessing her faith in the Lord.

 Her family will remember her for her love of art, music, and travel. She loved drawing, oil painting, sculpture, pottery, and creating woven tapestries. Dee played the guitar and loved singing. She sang in the St. Austine Seminary Choir in Bay St. Louis for 25 years. Dee traveled to and visited forty five of the fifty states, Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, and Europe. She especially loved teaching school, celebrating Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans, Disney World, and The Great Smoky Mountains. Dee loved Lady Baltimore Cake for her birthday, ice cream, chocolate, and going out to eat seafood on Friday night. But more than anything else in life, she loved her family and her husband of 53 years. She will be greatly missed.

 A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. at St. James Catholic Church, 366 Cowan Road, Gulfport, Mississippi on Saturday, July 27, 2024. Friends may visit from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. followed by Mass. Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15th Street, Gulfport is honored to serve the Cichon family.