Russel H.’s Obituary
Russel Hewit Turner was born in North Battleford, Saskatchewan on July 31st, 1915 to Isaac Edward Turner and Lucy Wright Turner. Russ grew up on the family farm near Prince, Saskatchewan. Tragedy struck early when his mother died during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. Russ and the youngest children were sent to live with neighbours and relatives for several years. They were brought home only after their father hired a widowed housekeeper, Jessie Odgers. The family grew once more when his father married Jessie and adopted her son. Four more children were born. In all, Russ had seven brothers and two surviving sisters. Keith, Alvin, Ralph, and Gordon were his full brothers. Adam was a step-brother. Jessie and Lucy were half-sisters, and Frank and Harry were half-brothers. Another sister and half-sister died before the age of two.
The family farm was so far from the local school that Russ was kept home until he was seven. Once he started school, he said he didn’t have anything but friends. “Once in a while I got in a fight with one of them but they were still my friends,” he said. This was a life-long attitude. Russ loved to talk, to discuss, and to learn by challenging others.
The Turners had an industrious, practical, resilient nature. Russ himself was an entrepreneur from the beginning. As a teenager he raised chickens, butchered them and sold them to neighbors and to campers. He soon learned not to let the campers “pay next week“ for their chickens. His family was progressive, and Russ and his brothers built a windmill to provide electricity for the farm. Russ enjoyed farming, logging, and mechanical work.
In his long life, Russ had many different occupations. During the Depression, he followed his older brother Keith out to Hedley, BC where he worked in a gold mine. He worked as a machinist and apprentice welder for Livingston Brothers in St. Walburg, SK. About a week before World War II began, Russ left Canada to study aircraft mechanics at St. Mary’s College in Santa Maria, California. A half year before graduating, he had learned everything he needed to know, and the College sent him on to teach Air Force pilots about aircraft and how to read weather. During the rest of World War II, Russ worked as a civilian under contract to the US Air Force. He taught aircraft mechanics how to maintain the B29 Super Fortress planes at Boeing in Seattle. In the rapid gear-up for warfare, teenagers and young adults were taught how to fly. Russ said that more than once he saw young inexperienced pilots crash to an early death on their first solo flights.
Romance was in the air at Boeing. Russ dated Minta Greig who would later become his second wife and also dated Laura Zimmerman who would become his first wife. Laura was a student in one of his classes.
After the war ended, Russ was out of a job and at loose ends. He worked for a few weeks picking apples in Wenatchee, Washington. Then one of his former supervisors called to tell him about an opportunity through the Marshall Plan. Russ was soon hired and sent to Miami for an intensive Portuguese course. Once he could speak Portuguese and had learned Brazilian customs, Russ was ready for Brazil. But before flying there, he married Laura. When Russ had a home ready, Laura followed him. For three years, Russ taught aircraft mechanics in Brazil.
Gerald, the first of Laura and Russ’s three children was born in Brazil in 1947. In 1949, the family of three returned to Canada. Russ logged in Spirit River and then worked for three years with his brother Ralph as a heavy duty mechanic at a brake shop in Grimshaw. Laura gave birth to two more children, Terisa in 1949 and Donald in 1950.
When the International Harvester dealership in Manning came up for sale, Russ and his brothers Ralph and Harry bought it. Russ became the salesman at Turner Brothers and Ralph and Harry the mechanics. Pete Reimer was the partsman and Ralph’s wife Helen, the bookkeeper. The dealership operated for 20 years.
The sixties were a tumultuous decade for Russ though they started out well. Around 1960, while Russ was working at Turner Brothers, he opened a laundromat in Manning. He began beekeeping a few years later, starting and operating the Hotchkiss Honey Company. But tragedy struck. By the end of the decade, Russ’s brother had been paralyzed in a roofing accident and Russ’s marriage had ended in divorce. Russ sold the family home and he and Don lived in a local apartment until he had remodeled the building where Ralph had been injured so that he could live in it. Turner Brothers closed in 1972.
Russ was always one to keep moving ahead. After a whirlwind courtship, he married Minta. He found happiness, too, in beekeeping. Later he said it was the best thing he ever did. Russ developed improved processes for the easy production of honey. He lectured on his techniques at Apimondia international conferences on beekeeping.
One of the great things about being a beekeeper was that it enabled him to travel in the winter. Russ went to Greece, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Columbia, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, England, and Scotland. In the US, he visited California, Hawaii, Florida, and Washington, DC. He travelled over much of Canada. Beekeeping and the international conferences introduced him to many fellow beekeepers. He visited them and studied their methods and shared his own.
In the 1970s, Russ sold Hotchkiss Honey and “retired”. With friends all over the world and skills, humor, and goodwill to share, every year Russ and Minta escaped five and a half of Alberta’s coldest months. Russ volunteered with Willing Workers on Organic Farms in New Zealand. His jack-of-all-trades background could help solve almost every problem. In his eighties and nineties, Russ continued to travel but now he rented whether in Australia, Arizona, or California. All in all, Russ spent his winters travelling, first with Minta and, after she died, with his companion Doraine Williams.
Every spring they returned to Manning. Russ loved his garden. It was spectacular and productive. Flowers, trees, vegetables, fruit—all in abundance. Russ gave away and froze the excess produce. Grandchildren and other visitors learned to graze on raspberries and sugar snaps. Russ taught us to brush the dirt off a carrot before chomping down. Or, on muddy days, to swish the carrot in the rain barrel. Family and friends often went home with a bouquet of peonies or whatever was in flower.
Russ loved nature and exploring. He loved children. And he loved sharing his knowledge. He was a birdwatcher and, in his younger years, a hunter. He took many children on hikes in the bush. The area where the hospital is now was a favourite place to explore and teach others how to identify birds, animals and their tracks and signs, nests, and plants. He taught kids to swim and how to use a slingshot and a jack knife. He fixed their bikes and he took them on wienie roasts. When Prince Philip came to Grimshaw for the dedication of the provincial park, Russ brought down a carful of kids for the event. To Russ’s amusement, Prince Philip asked Russ if he was the father of them all.
Russ moved into the Del Air Lodge when he was 98 years old. There he found a happy home and many new friends. He enjoyed the Lodge’s many visitors and loving staff. He enjoyed talking about the past. Russ was an agnostic, which caused much concern for a few residents. But Russ was firm. When asked about his religious belief he said he believed in being practical.
Russ had many losses in his life. His mother’s death when he was three years old. His first marriage ending in divorce. His brother Ralph paralyzed in a roofing accident. His second wife’s long illness and death in 1999. His son Gerald and stepsons Mike and Rich all predeceased him, as did all of his brothers and sisters. The closure of Turner Brothers and the fire that destroyed his laundromat were blows, too.
Russ turned away from these losses. He concentrated on what opportunities and abilities he did have and what he could do. He said, “I imagine, in some people’s eyes, my habit of forgetting tragedies is running away from it—but there’s no point in carrying it on. You put the energy you could put into mourning into earning and learning. Maybe it marks you as narrow-minded, but it’s actually the case…long mourning is detrimental to progress.”
Russ deliberately led a productive life. When he was hurt, he coached himself not to brood. One time he said, “I ask myself, do I want to enjoy life or do I want to be mad?” Russ was a pleasure to be with. He was a model and guide for many people.
Russ leaves behind his daughter Terisa (Leigh Brownhill), son Don (Patricia McIsaac), daughter-in-law Barbara Curry Mulcahy, 8 grandchildren—Danny, Tom, Paul, Blaise, Shannon, Amie, Adabu, and Hauwa, 9 great-grandchildren—Mariah, Mackenzie, Brent, Kelsi, Shane, Aerith, Sarah, Theo, and Claire, and one great-great-grandchild, Violet.
Read More
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Russel H Turner July 31 1915 March 27 2021..
Chapel of Memories Funeral Homes & Crematorium
Décès pour la Ville: Peace River, Province: Alberta