Wilbur Lowe Turner

Wilbur Lowe Turner
ELIOT -- Wilbur Lowe Turner passed away at his home in Eliot on April 4, 2011.
Will was born on March 30, 1926, in Plymouth, Mass., to Elsie Lowe Turner and Horace F. Turner. He grew up in Milton, Mass., where his father was Superintendent of Schools.
Prior to enlisting in the Army on D-Day, Wilbur attended Yale University. He had more schooling at The Virginia Military Institute and eventually served in Italy. Upon return to the U.S. he attended Brown University for his junior year. After taking an insurance aptitude test at a friend's apartment he left college and began his career in Boston, Mass., at The Travelers Insurance Company.
After a brief courtship he married Barbara Scott Pierce on Jan. 30, 1953. They lived in Hingham, Mass., and began their family. Wilbur was offered a promotion that would take him to New York City and instead he and Bar made the decision to move the family to Kittery Point. They winterized a summer home on Cutts Island and relocated in 1963.
This move resulted in wonderful adventures for everybody. Peter, Wendy, Liz and Jenny ran free in the woods, on the coastline, and beaches. Wilbur became a Marine Surveyor, establishing Lusty & Turner and spent his days at boat yards assessing yachts and commercial fishing boats. He and Barbara took up tennis, becoming active members at Sunny Meadows Tennis Association. They cruised the Atlantic with friends, ending up in places like Halifax, Nova Scotia and Bermuda. They eventually bought a cottage on Guana Cay in the Bahamas where many of their long time friends also set up for the cold months. They had wonderful times on the Cay; rum on the porch at sunset and messing around in boats.
Wilbur loved to work with wood, making beautiful half-model boats, and was quite an artist. Every birthday brought hand drawn birthday cards for his children. Wilbur served on the Kittery Port Authority, was a member of the Federal Fire Society, the York Harbour Reading Room, and a proprietor at the Portsmouth Athenaeum. He and a group of friends reactivated the Kittery Yacht Club.
He was predeceased by his wife, Barbara S. Turner; his sisters, Alice Francis and Hazel Leard, his brother, Horace Turner; and his loving dogs, Schatzi and Sadie. He is survived by his son, Peter S. Turner and his wife Colleen B. Jones-Turner of South Portland, and daughters, Wendy L. Turner and her wife Paula J. Ickeringill of Kittery Point, Elizabeth F. Turner and her partner Stuart W. Ober of Eliot, and Jennifer C. Hateley and her husband William B. Hateley of Battlefield, Mo.; and two grandchildren, Morrigan S. Turner and Elijah B. Ober.
The family wants to acknowledge the devoted and loving caregivers who slipped Wilbur cookies and candy bars when no one was looking.
Arrangements are entrusted to the J.S. Pelkey Funeral Home.
Contributions may be made
in memory of Wilbur to:
Kittery Land Trust
P.O. Box 467
Kittery, Maine 04904-0467