Kenneth Harry (Ken) Turner, passed away February 13, 2007. He was preceded in death by his father, Harmon Declar Turner, mother, Olive Graham Turner, brother, Doyle Mead (Spike) Turner, brother, William Edward (Billy) Turner plus his cherished aunts and uncles on both maternal and paternal sides. Ken grew up a member of Lake Street United Methodist church of Woodland, PA.
He is survived by: son, Tracy Harmon Turner and his girlfriend, Kim Hart; daughter, Sherry Ratzlaff and her husband,Allen and grandchild, Chelsea Ratzlaff; daughter, Sandy Kelley and husband Sean, and his daughter Melanie Turner (Punkin) Gusler and her husband, Frederick; many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
He was born on December 3, 1929 in a Woolridge Coal company Row House in the town of Woodland, in Bradford Township, Pennsylvania. Ken accompanied his father while digging coal (Mostly at night) and he attended Woodland Elementary School by day while his father drove a team of mules in the clay mines. He graduated from Clearfield High School where he was a champion wrestler. Upon graduation in 1947, he entered the United States Navy for the conclusion of World War II and served through the onset of the Korean War. Ken continued his competitive wrestling in the Navy at the Great Lakes Naval Station. While in the Navy, he furthered his education with technical training to become an electrician and then served as Electrician's Mate.
He was assigned to the United States Navy Amphibious Base at Little Creek in Norfolk. Positioned as a speedboat driver for Frogmen (predecessors to the Navy Seals) maneuvers, Ken first developed his interest and appreciation for the water and its' various crafts. Prior to Ken's time in the Navy, his brother "Spike" served valiantly for the Navy at the Normandy Beach invasion of D-Day during World War II.
After being honorably discharged from the Navy in 1951, Ken settled in Roanoke where, after a brief stint as an electrician for a shop on Campbell Avenue, he went to work for the C&P Telephone Company. After 33 years service and several company name changes, he retired from Verizon in 1984. He enjoyed many good years in the city after first coming to Roanoke, and then bought his first country home out on Bradshaw Road in the Shawsville/Elliston area. In January 1971 he moved to Bent Mountain. For over 35 years there he raised, broke, and rode many horses. In particular, his beloved "Duchess." Other loves beside all of the important people…racing stock cars and horses at the old Starkey race track, boating and water skiing on Smith Mountain Lake, ice skating and occasionally snowmobiling, playing canasta and poker, surfing fishing at Nags Head, creek and fond fishing all over Bent Mountain and the lake, wearing moccasins, cowboy hats and boots, reading Civil War History, taking trips to Gettysburg and Harper's Ferry, watching the Antique Roadshow, the Discover, Weather, and History Channels, giving long "lectures" at his kitchen table, going to the beach, socializing at Jim Pigg's milk house and Archie Horton's barn, and traveling to Pennsylvania to see family, attend the Clearfield County fair, and to visit and honor family members already in the cemeteries there.
He loved all animals (except for groundhogs because they endangered his horse) and over the years many "homeless" dogs found a home with food and shelter at his house on the mountain. He raised and gave away numerous Labrador puppies, offspring of the two black labs, "Mork and Mindy," that led the precedent for dogs to be forever present…preferably, black in color, like his most recent dog, "George."
On Saturday, February 17 at 2 p.m. there was a wake at Archie's Barn. Funeral service was held Tuesday, February 20, at 2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in South Roanoke. Following the service there was a procession to Pennsylvania where on Ash Wednesday, there was a graveside service and burial in the Bradford cemetery.
He is survived by: son, Tracy Harmon Turner and his girlfriend, Kim Hart; daughter, Sherry Ratzlaff and her husband,Allen and grandchild, Chelsea Ratzlaff; daughter, Sandy Kelley and husband Sean, and his daughter Melanie Turner (Punkin) Gusler and her husband, Frederick; many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
He was born on December 3, 1929 in a Woolridge Coal company Row House in the town of Woodland, in Bradford Township, Pennsylvania. Ken accompanied his father while digging coal (Mostly at night) and he attended Woodland Elementary School by day while his father drove a team of mules in the clay mines. He graduated from Clearfield High School where he was a champion wrestler. Upon graduation in 1947, he entered the United States Navy for the conclusion of World War II and served through the onset of the Korean War. Ken continued his competitive wrestling in the Navy at the Great Lakes Naval Station. While in the Navy, he furthered his education with technical training to become an electrician and then served as Electrician's Mate.
He was assigned to the United States Navy Amphibious Base at Little Creek in Norfolk. Positioned as a speedboat driver for Frogmen (predecessors to the Navy Seals) maneuvers, Ken first developed his interest and appreciation for the water and its' various crafts. Prior to Ken's time in the Navy, his brother "Spike" served valiantly for the Navy at the Normandy Beach invasion of D-Day during World War II.
After being honorably discharged from the Navy in 1951, Ken settled in Roanoke where, after a brief stint as an electrician for a shop on Campbell Avenue, he went to work for the C&P Telephone Company. After 33 years service and several company name changes, he retired from Verizon in 1984. He enjoyed many good years in the city after first coming to Roanoke, and then bought his first country home out on Bradshaw Road in the Shawsville/Elliston area. In January 1971 he moved to Bent Mountain. For over 35 years there he raised, broke, and rode many horses. In particular, his beloved "Duchess." Other loves beside all of the important people…racing stock cars and horses at the old Starkey race track, boating and water skiing on Smith Mountain Lake, ice skating and occasionally snowmobiling, playing canasta and poker, surfing fishing at Nags Head, creek and fond fishing all over Bent Mountain and the lake, wearing moccasins, cowboy hats and boots, reading Civil War History, taking trips to Gettysburg and Harper's Ferry, watching the Antique Roadshow, the Discover, Weather, and History Channels, giving long "lectures" at his kitchen table, going to the beach, socializing at Jim Pigg's milk house and Archie Horton's barn, and traveling to Pennsylvania to see family, attend the Clearfield County fair, and to visit and honor family members already in the cemeteries there.
He loved all animals (except for groundhogs because they endangered his horse) and over the years many "homeless" dogs found a home with food and shelter at his house on the mountain. He raised and gave away numerous Labrador puppies, offspring of the two black labs, "Mork and Mindy," that led the precedent for dogs to be forever present…preferably, black in color, like his most recent dog, "George."
On Saturday, February 17 at 2 p.m. there was a wake at Archie's Barn. Funeral service was held Tuesday, February 20, at 2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in South Roanoke. Following the service there was a procession to Pennsylvania where on Ash Wednesday, there was a graveside service and burial in the Bradford cemetery.
Kenneth Harry (Ken) Turner, passed away February 13, 2007. He was preceded in death by his father, Harmon Declar Turner, mother, Olive Graham Turner, brother, Doyle Mead (Spike) Turner, brother, William Edward (Billy) Turner plus his cherished aunts and uncles on both maternal and paternal sides. Ken grew up a member of Lake Street United Methodist church of Woodland, PA.
He is survived by: son, Tracy Harmon Turner and his girlfriend, Kim Hart; daughter, Sherry Ratzlaff and her husband,Allen and grandchild, Chelsea Ratzlaff; daughter, Sandy Kelley and husband Sean, and his daughter Melanie Turner (Punkin) Gusler and her husband, Frederick; many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
He was born on December 3, 1929 in a Woolridge Coal company Row House in the town of Woodland, in Bradford Township, Pennsylvania. Ken accompanied his father while digging coal (Mostly at night) and he attended Woodland Elementary School by day while his father drove a team of mules in the clay mines. He graduated from Clearfield High School where he was a champion wrestler. Upon graduation in 1947, he entered the United States Navy for the conclusion of World War II and served through the onset of the Korean War. Ken continued his competitive wrestling in the Navy at the Great Lakes Naval Station. While in the Navy, he furthered his education with technical training to become an electrician and then served as Electrician's Mate.
He was assigned to the United States Navy Amphibious Base at Little Creek in Norfolk. Positioned as a speedboat driver for Frogmen (predecessors to the Navy Seals) maneuvers, Ken first developed his interest and appreciation for the water and its' various crafts. Prior to Ken's time in the Navy, his brother "Spike" served valiantly for the Navy at the Normandy Beach invasion of D-Day during World War II.
After being honorably discharged from the Navy in 1951, Ken settled in Roanoke where, after a brief stint as an electrician for a shop on Campbell Avenue, he went to work for the C&P Telephone Company. After 33 years service and several company name changes, he retired from Verizon in 1984. He enjoyed many good years in the city after first coming to Roanoke, and then bought his first country home out on Bradshaw Road in the Shawsville/Elliston area. In January 1971 he moved to Bent Mountain. For over 35 years there he raised, broke, and rode many horses. In particular, his beloved "Duchess." Other loves beside all of the important people…racing stock cars and horses at the old Starkey race track, boating and water skiing on Smith Mountain Lake, ice skating and occasionally snowmobiling, playing canasta and poker, surfing fishing at Nags Head, creek and fond fishing all over Bent Mountain and the lake, wearing moccasins, cowboy hats and boots, reading Civil War History, taking trips to Gettysburg and Harper's Ferry, watching the Antique Roadshow, the Discover, Weather, and History Channels, giving long "lectures" at his kitchen table, going to the beach, socializing at Jim Pigg's milk house and Archie Horton's barn, and traveling to Pennsylvania to see family, attend the Clearfield County fair, and to visit and honor family members already in the cemeteries there.
He loved all animals (except for groundhogs because they endangered his horse) and over the years many "homeless" dogs found a home with food and shelter at his house on the mountain. He raised and gave away numerous Labrador puppies, offspring of the two black labs, "Mork and Mindy," that led the precedent for dogs to be forever present…preferably, black in color, like his most recent dog, "George."
On Saturday, February 17 at 2 p.m. there was a wake at Archie's Barn. Funeral service was held Tuesday, February 20, at 2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in South Roanoke. Following the service there was a procession to Pennsylvania where on Ash Wednesday, there was a graveside service and burial in the Bradford cemetery.
He is survived by: son, Tracy Harmon Turner and his girlfriend, Kim Hart; daughter, Sherry Ratzlaff and her husband,Allen and grandchild, Chelsea Ratzlaff; daughter, Sandy Kelley and husband Sean, and his daughter Melanie Turner (Punkin) Gusler and her husband, Frederick; many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
He was born on December 3, 1929 in a Woolridge Coal company Row House in the town of Woodland, in Bradford Township, Pennsylvania. Ken accompanied his father while digging coal (Mostly at night) and he attended Woodland Elementary School by day while his father drove a team of mules in the clay mines. He graduated from Clearfield High School where he was a champion wrestler. Upon graduation in 1947, he entered the United States Navy for the conclusion of World War II and served through the onset of the Korean War. Ken continued his competitive wrestling in the Navy at the Great Lakes Naval Station. While in the Navy, he furthered his education with technical training to become an electrician and then served as Electrician's Mate.
He was assigned to the United States Navy Amphibious Base at Little Creek in Norfolk. Positioned as a speedboat driver for Frogmen (predecessors to the Navy Seals) maneuvers, Ken first developed his interest and appreciation for the water and its' various crafts. Prior to Ken's time in the Navy, his brother "Spike" served valiantly for the Navy at the Normandy Beach invasion of D-Day during World War II.
After being honorably discharged from the Navy in 1951, Ken settled in Roanoke where, after a brief stint as an electrician for a shop on Campbell Avenue, he went to work for the C&P Telephone Company. After 33 years service and several company name changes, he retired from Verizon in 1984. He enjoyed many good years in the city after first coming to Roanoke, and then bought his first country home out on Bradshaw Road in the Shawsville/Elliston area. In January 1971 he moved to Bent Mountain. For over 35 years there he raised, broke, and rode many horses. In particular, his beloved "Duchess." Other loves beside all of the important people…racing stock cars and horses at the old Starkey race track, boating and water skiing on Smith Mountain Lake, ice skating and occasionally snowmobiling, playing canasta and poker, surfing fishing at Nags Head, creek and fond fishing all over Bent Mountain and the lake, wearing moccasins, cowboy hats and boots, reading Civil War History, taking trips to Gettysburg and Harper's Ferry, watching the Antique Roadshow, the Discover, Weather, and History Channels, giving long "lectures" at his kitchen table, going to the beach, socializing at Jim Pigg's milk house and Archie Horton's barn, and traveling to Pennsylvania to see family, attend the Clearfield County fair, and to visit and honor family members already in the cemeteries there.
He loved all animals (except for groundhogs because they endangered his horse) and over the years many "homeless" dogs found a home with food and shelter at his house on the mountain. He raised and gave away numerous Labrador puppies, offspring of the two black labs, "Mork and Mindy," that led the precedent for dogs to be forever present…preferably, black in color, like his most recent dog, "George."
On Saturday, February 17 at 2 p.m. there was a wake at Archie's Barn. Funeral service was held Tuesday, February 20, at 2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in South Roanoke. Following the service there was a procession to Pennsylvania where on Ash Wednesday, there was a graveside service and burial in the Bradford cemetery.
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