Frederick E. Turner

Frederick E. Turner, a second generation Tallahassean, died peacefully on Wednesday, October 12, 2022. He was born on June 14, 1931 to the late Louis and Lena Turner, and graduated from Leon High School. He graduated from University of Miami with a Bachelors Degree in Business as a member of the ROTC program. When he returned to Tallahassee, he was deployed to the Philippines in the United States Air Force and gained the rank of First Lieutenant.
After his service was complete, he returned home and went to work in his parents' store, Turner's Doorway Fashion. A new opportunity came when his uncle, Sam Myers, invested in a property currently known as Scenic Heights. Once he started in the residential home building business, he knew this would be his passion. He would continue to make a huge difference in the housing market. Fred founded Century Construction, which later became Turner Heritage Homes. One of his greatest joys were his children Devra and Doug. Fred enjoyed seeing his son Doug develop the same passion for homebuilding. He retired in 2012. Fred Turner was "one-of-kind" and left behind a legacy. He had a long, fulfilling life with many accomplishments.
Fred is survived by his loving wife of 30 years, June Turner; his son, Doug Turner (Teresa); Terri O'Neal-Schaffer (Norman) and Todd O'Neal (Michelle); his brother, Steve Turner (Susan); grandchildren, Chennel Turner McCranie (Colin), Evan Turner (Katherine), Andrea Tuijten, Sanne Tuijten, Will O'Neal (Kirsten), Lacy Guthrie (Josh), Jacob Kodner (Madison) and Joshua Kodner as well as multiple great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his beautiful daughter, Devra Turner Tuijten and his brother, Mel Turner.
A graveside service will be held at Oakland Cemetery in Tallahassee on Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Big Bend Hospice. The family would also like to extend their deepest gratitude to all of his caretakers who cared for him throughout the years.
Breanna Green of Bevis Funeral Home is assisting the family with their arrangements. (850-385-2193 or www.bevisfh.com)
Eulogy of Fredrick Erwin Turner, written by his son, Doug Turner:
Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. The social media comments, texts, and e-mails received from family and friends were thoughtful, warm, and included several stories of special "Fred Turner" encounters and experiences. Anyone who spent time with Dad had at least one special "Fred Turner" encounter. These encounters range from a friendly prank, business lesson, or a tip on health and fitness. Dad's enthusiasm and conviction regarding whatever topic he was discussing with you, or the prank being inflicted, created the "Fred Turner everlasting impression".
When the Greek philosopher Socrates stated that, "Death may be the greatest of all human blessings," we can reasonably assume that he knew well the words that King Solomon spoke in Ecclesiastes 7:1, "A good name is more precious than good oil on the day of death than the day of birth." Dad leaves behind a respected name and legacy.
For the next few minutes I will cover a few high points of Dad's life. These are a few of the stories of Dad's recollection of the events, so they may not be exactly as you remember.
The Early Years
Dad was born in Tallahassee on Beard Street June 14th, 1931, to his parents, Louis and Lena Turner. When Dad was 8 or 9, he was at Camp Osceola, just outside of Hendersonville N.C the camp counselor said he looked like and behave like Spanky McFarlane on the TV Series "The Little Rascals". From that point Dad was given the nickname "Spanky."
Dad remembered growing up as a kid his parents' marriage was both a loving and business relationship all wrapped up together. When Dad was 4 years old in 1935, the Great Depression was going on, and Pop drove home in his 34 Ford Coupe. Dad was on the front porch and Granny was in the yard. Pop said to Granny, "Lena, I have no idea how I am going to pay the rent". Dad said he would never forget that day. Those words were burned into Dad's brain and he never wanted to be in that place again. This moment played a big part in shaping his business practices throughout his life. He used to tell me, "Tough times will come in life so always have dry powder in reserve for when those tough times come."
Granny was the disciplinarian in his family and she was the parent that delivered the spankings. Dad recalled a time when Uncle Melvin got himself into trouble that was reported to Granny. In those days' neighbors communicated with one another for the benefit of all. When Granny returned home, she spanked Uncle Melvin for his bad behavior, and then called for Dad to be spanked. Dad said he protested he was not involved with the incident. Dad remembers Granny telling him "that doesn't matter you will misbehave soon enough so let's just get this over with now". Where was Uncle Steve? Uncle Steve was not born until 1941. Steve was the perfect son, scholar, and most well behaved. Dad never said if Uncle Steve received any of those spankings probably because Granny was exhausted from spanking Melvin and Fred over the years, and didn't have the energy to continue the tradition.
During WWII, Uncle Melvin and Dad helped Granny (Lena) and Pop with uniform sales to the army. Dad told me that Pop benefited from his political connections with then Senator Claude Pepper to win the uniform contract for the government. Dad said it was a great opportunity for the store (Turners Doorway to Fashion). Dad recalls fitting troops with Uncle Melvin and Pop for days with troops lined up around the block to the old State Theater.
During these early years Dad became interested in weight training. Dad recalls early training lifting 135lbs and falling backwards with the weights hitting his head and knocking him out. The circumference of the 45lb plate saved the bar from killing him. Granny announced to Pop "I think Freddy is dead!" Luckily, he was just knocked out. Over time training paid off paid off and Dad was recruited to play football at Leon High until injuries put a stop to that.
Uncle Willie: In the early years Dad was very close to Uncle Willie. They would go fishing, and hunting. Uncle Willie was a likeable happy go lucky fella. They had a great relationship until one day when they went fishing, Dad recalls he was 10 years old. At the end of the trip they pulled into the dock at St Marks. Uncle Willie was reaching over the dock to work on his engine, and the devil took control of Dad's thoughts for that moment. Dad picked up a paddle from the dock and gave poor ole Uncle Willie a good whack on his bottom and he went flying off the dock, over the boat and into the St Marks channel. When Uncle Willie surfaced, you can imagine he was furious. Dad would never forget. Uncle Willie said," You little brat, I am going to kill you!" As Dad always did in these situations when he was younger; he ran and hid in the woods to hide. Uncle Willie yelled, "I'll get you Freddie! After a couple of hours, he came out of the woods and hitched a ride back home. Dad has told this story over and over. This story remained fresh in his mind until his last days. He confessed to me that he just didn't know what possessed him to do something like that!
College ROTC
Dad joined the Air Force ROTC in college and graduated from University of Miami in 1952. Dad married my mother Carol Turner in June 1952 on his birthday, and was shipped to Clark AFB in the Philippines for 2 years. Dad loved serving at Clarke AFB. Dad was First Lieutenant and was responsible for cargo management. He had many friends, good times, learned to play golf, and traveled while he was stationed there.
One of Dad's physical accomplishments was the one arm snatch/press. His maximum lift was 215 lbs. Impressive for a man of his size in those times. A photo of this lift was on my FaceBook post. If you spent any time with Dad over the years, he may have shared this photo with you. He was very proud of this and he loved to share this picture.
Post Clark AFB
Dad returned to the store and managed men's and ladies shoe sales. Dad said he was good at selling shoes, but he knew quickly this was not his calling. In 1956 my sister Devra was born and then I was born a couple of years later in 1958.
With a new family to take care of, Dad spent time searching for his calling. This is how it happened in the late 50's at a Gin Rummy game with Pop, Uncle Sam, and Uncle Hyman, the issue of a family JV between the 3 of them came up. Pop, Uncle Sam, and Uncle Hyman owned a large site on Tharpe Street which later became known as Scenic Heights. Uncle Hyman announced he wanted out of the deal and demanded that his partners buy him out. Uncle Sam volunteered that Freddy would buy out Hyman. Pop reminded his partners that Freddy did not have any money and questioned how was this going to happen. Uncle Sam said he would loan Freddy the money. This was the beginning of a long successful career in land development and home building that would go on for over 50 years.
Century Construction/ Turner Heritage Home Years
Dad created a successful land development and home building company creating communities and building new homes for families for 5 decades and he made a huge impact on the community. So many families were able to grow and thrive from Dad's work.
Because of my Dad, I only have one item on my resume since I started working with Dad when I was 8 years old. Every summer I would work with the trades and Dad wanted to me to learn as many trades as possible. When I was 16, and got my driver's license, Dad started training me to manage construction of the jobs, design, accounting, material estimating and purchasing and after all these years, I am still in the home building business today. Dad was my first mentor and together we built thousands of homes for families. Dad taught me to have a good eye for design and give people excellent value. My Dad was very proud of being able to help people with their biggest and most important investment in life – their home.
Personal Life
As life happened over the years, Dad married June O'Neal Turner and he loved her with all his heart and soul. They had a great life together and were rarely apart. They loved to spend time with all the family members and were always there to celebrate birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, new babies and whatever life events happened along the way. Dad and June shared a love of fitness and working out together, as well as traveling, antiquing, and dining at fabulous restaurants. They had an active social life and had a lot of friends over the years.
After 2008, our world turned upside down and Dad decided to retire from the home building business. It was a difficult time for our family. My sister, Devra, passed away from cancer, and Dad lost the function of his kidneys. Dad was on dialysis for over a year. Those were dark times for our family.
During the time Dad was on dialysis, Joe Myers was kind enough to volunteer to help take Dad to dialysis and he and Dad enjoyed reminiscing over the past and discussions of solving the worlds issues. A miracle actually happened during this time and Dad was blessed to get a kidney transplant. He was on the list for a long time, but at the age of 80, we weren't sure if he would get the call. This kidney saved his life and gave him another 11 years of life.
Dad's 5 Fs of Life
In wrapping up, I thought about Dad's life and went through the 5 F 's.
Family: Dad loved his family and was the Patriarch and the constant that kept us holding hands through the ups and downs of life.
Faith: Dad lived life as a "righteous man".
Finance: Dad's work was a blessing to many families and his business created countless jobs.
Friends: Dad was blessed with so many great friends, but in the end he outlived many of them.
Fitness: Dad's passion was keeping himself healthy.
At the end of the day, I know Dad certainly has a sweet spot in heaven and that God is telling him "Well done good and faithful servant."