Edgar Ray Turner II

Edgar Ray Turner, II (Ed) passed away peacefully on February 20, 2026, surrounded by his wife and children. He was born on May 28, 1943, in Athens, Ohio, where he lived with his parents (Edgar Ray Turner, Sr., and Velma Locke Turner) until moving to their cattle farm in Pike County Ohio in the early 1950s.

Ed graduated from Piketon High School in 1961, attended Ohio University and Florida Southern College before marrying his wife (Diane Patricia Strickland of Tallahassee, Florida) in June of 1965. After deciding to change his career path, Ed entered The Pennsylvania State University School of Architectural Engineering in State College, PA, graduated in 1970, and began a seventeen-year career with the Gulf Oil Corporation at their corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh. Later he served as Vice President of the University of Pittsburgh's Applied Research Center (U-PARC) in Harmarville, followed by twenty years as the Director of Engineering and Facilities Management with the Diocese of Greensburg.

More than anything else in the world, Ed loved his family and friends, the home he designed and built on Buffalo Creek at Old Mill Falls in Sarver, and designing and building most anything-from toys to furniture and buildings. He also enjoyed making people laugh, playing golf, driving sports cars, SCUBA-diving, water skiing, boating, fishing, collecting old tools and items with a history, cooking, traveling, unique architecture, spending time on gorgeous beaches and enjoying the beauty and serenity of nature in general-not to mention watching Penn State and Steelers football.

Surviving Ed is his wife, Diane Turner of Sarver; son, Trey (Edgar Ray Turner, III) and daughter-in-law, Jennifer Deily Turner of Ross Township; daughter, Ashley Strickland Turner and son-in-law, Ryan Kratt Turner of Worthington; brother-in-law, Dallas Strickland and sister-in-law, Joelene Strickland of Tallahassee, FL; as well as numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and close friends who were like relatives in his heart.

Ed's warm and loving spirit, sense of humor and charismatic presence will be profoundly missed by all who loved him. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

Professional services entrusted to Thomas M. Smith Funeral Home & Crematory Ltd; 930 Center Avenue Blawnox, PA, 15238; www.thomasmsmithfuneralhome.com.