Obituary of Jeanne B. Turner

Jeanne B.Turner 9/27/1926 - 1/25/2014. Jeanne Turner was born September 27, 1926, to Dolly and Albert Brunner in Buffalo, New York. Shortly after, they moved to California, along with her sisters, Patricia and Dorothy, where Jeanne spent her younger years. After receiving her degree as a Registered Nurse in 1947, she moved to Richfield, Utah, where she became Head Nurse of Sevier Valley Hospital. Within a short time, she met Raymond Turner. They were married in 1949 and moved to Pullman, Washington, where Ray completed his Doctorate in Plant Ecology. With two young children and one on the way, they moved to Tucson in 1954, where Ray joined the faculty of the University of Arizona. As the children grew up, Jeanne resumed her nursing career. She was the Operating Room Supervisor at St. Joseph's Hospital for many years and then moved to the University Medical Center. She retired in 1981 and became a field assistant and collaborator for her husband's ecologic work and publications. They traveled the U.S., Mexico, and Africa for their research and, among other publications, co-authored Kenya's Changing Landscape. Jeanne also turned her interests to neighborhood activism. For more than 35 years, she played a leading role in the development of the Fort Lowell neighborhood, where she and Ray made a warm and welcoming home. Her vision and dedication shaped the community in many ways. In the early 1980's, she participated in the formation--and was a founding member--of the Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood Association. She served as an officer on the Neighborhood Council and as a member of the Plan Committee, which sought to protect the area's environmental and historical resources. Since its first year in 1982, she worked to make "La Reunion de El Fuerte," the neighborhood tour and celebration, an annual event and for many years co-chaired the hard-working committees that made it possible. Among her many activities, she initiated and continued to organize annual history lectures; was a long-time volunteer with the Old Fort Lowell Live-At-Home program, helped with the mapping of the Fort Lowell Cemetery; and hosted lively neighborhood gatherings at the family home. In 2005 she and fellow neighbors received a grant to coordinate the collection of oral histories that resulted in the volume, The Voices of Fort Lowell. To many she was known as the "Mother of San Pedro Chapel," the church at the heart of the Fort Lowell neighborhood. In 1991, she chaired the committee that successfully raised the funds to purchase the adobe chapel for the Neighborhood Association and remained its caretaker and guardian up until five months before she died at the age of 87. She handled its rental for weddings, memorials, and celebrations of all kinds, along with managing the space as a neighborhood center. In cooperation with other dedicated Fuerteños, she wrote grants and organized musical concerts in order to raise the capital that would eventually fund its historical restoration (she co-chaired the oversight committee) completed in 2008. In honor of her long and devoted service to the Fort Lowell Neighborhood, this year's 33rd annual La Reunion de El Fuerte/Fort Lowell Day Celebration will be dedicated to Jeanne Turner. The celebration and tour will be held on Saturday, February 8, 2014 Please join her community and family in celebrating the people and places that she cherished. Details are at: http://oldfortlowellneighborhood.org/OFLDayCelebration.htm. Jeanne leaves a wide and wonderful circle of dear friends and neighbors; and her beloved husband, Raymond; her children, Teresa, Justin and his wife Linda, Martin and his wife Paula; her grandchildren, Seth, Leah, Caitlin and Joseph; and her sister, Dorothy. A Memorial is planned for a later date and will be held at the San Pedro Chapel. In lieu of flowers, please consider sending donations to the Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood Association, 5230 E. Ft. Lowell Rd., Tucson, AZ 85712. Arrangements by ADAIR FUNERAL HOME, Dodge Chapel.