Frederick W. Turner

1951 - 2020

Frederick (Rick) W. Turner

Frederick (Rick) W. Turner died peacefully on October 20th at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, New York with his two children by his side. He was 68 years old.

Rick Turner was a larger than life attorney, activist, and artist. Rick was born in Elmira, New York to Frederick L. Turner, a minister and theologian, and Evelyn Bravo Turner, a teacher. Throughout Rick's childhood the family moved all around the finger lake region, sewing a deep love for the area, environmentalism, and geology in Rick that would last a lifetime.

Rick graduated cum laude from Ithaca College in 1974. During his college years, Rick was active in protests and demonstrations against the Vietnam War. This activism led to his work with the Attica Brothers Legal Defense Committee and the Human Affairs Program at the Elmira Correctional Facility.

After college, Rick moved to Atlanta, Georgia and worked at a film processing lab, pursuing his passion for photography and art. Rick also worked as a clerk at a law firm and served on the educational committee of the Board of Directors for the HEW Federal Credit Union and was involved in local politics.

In 1980, Rick graduated cum laude with a juris doctorate and a Masters in Public Administration from Syracuse University. Rick moved to New York City and worked for the New York City Law Department and later for the Legal Aid Society, where he represented indigent defendants in criminal appeals. He then worked for the New York State Environmental Protection Bureau prosecuting environmental crime before serving as the Town Attorney for Greenburgh, New York. He ultimately pivoted to private practice and began his own law firm, specializing in land use, zoning, and environmental law.

Before retiring to Ithaca in 2019, Rick was a Croton-on-Hudson resident for 24 years. His passion for the environment, the law, and his community guided his civic life. He was an activist armed with a law degree. Rick advocated for free and public access to the Croton River and affordable housing, and against leash laws. Rick volunteered his time with the National Audubon Society, River Keeper, Federated Conservationists of Westchester County, Croton Film Festival, Croton's Conservation Advisory Council and served on the Board of Trustees of the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of the Hudson Valley.

Rick was a tremendous family man whose impact on his family will be eternal. For his family, Rick's spirit lives on in the music he loved, including Bob Dylan's, who wrote; "Let them say that I walked / In fair nature's light / And that I was loyal / To truth and to right / Serve God and be cheerful / Look upward beyond. " He is survived by his wife, Betsy; his children, Emily and Wes; his sister, Ruth; sister and brother-in law, Nancy and David Gray; nieces and nephews, David, Marc, Sarah, Katie and Christine; and great-uncles and aunts and cousins.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to the Finger Lakes Land Trust in Rick's honor. The family plans to have a service in Rick's memory with all of his loved ones when it is safe to do so.