The original funeral home was established, owned and operated by Leo. W. Patterson in 1916. It was located where the Globe Gazette now stands.

Floyd M. James purchased the funeral business from L. W. Patterson in 1946, two years prior to Leo's death.

In 1950, Mr. James purchased the William E. Brice residence at the corner of 2nd St. SE and Pennsylvania to be remodeled, enhancing the detailed craftsmanship of the woodwork, to house the funeral home in 1951.

The ownership progressed to Richard C. James, Floyd's son and Steven R. Sellergren. Richard "Dick" bought out Steve in 1985.

James M. Fullerton purchased the Mason City and Rockwell chapels from Dick in 1986.

The Hage Funeral Home, 401 Blunt, Charles City, operated by Almer "Bud" and Shirley Hage for 35 years, was purchased by Jim in 1991. Both the Mason City and Charles City chapels feature beautiful and stately pipe organs. The Rockwell chapel, 120 S. 23rd St., has recently undergone a remodeling project of both the interior and exterior.

In 1998 the Rockford location was added to the family of funeral homes. It too has been extensively remodeled to provide an atmosphere of comfort and caring staff.

The new addition in Mason City was opened for operations in January of 2000. The Fullerton Funeral Home staff is available for information, tours and educational seminars on various aspects of funeral related topics such as cremation, grief support, embalming, pre-arrangements, disaster preparedness, and funeral service as a profession. Members of the staff have a high level of community involvement. They provide training for Mass Fatality Incident Response and participate as a period embalmer in the Mason City Civil War Re-enactment. Professional memberships that the staff are associated with include Iowa Funeral Directors Association, National Directors Association, American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice, and the National Disaster Mortuary Service Team.