Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
Friends of deceased former Fallbrook residents Harry G. and Clara K. Turner are invited to join the Turner family in a memorial Mass at 10:00 a.m. Friday, January 13, 2006, at St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Stage Coach Lane, Fallbrook, CA. After Mass, there will be a blessing of the Turners’ grave in Fallbrook Masonic Cemetery, followed by refreshments and socializing in St. Peter’s Parish Hall. After Harry’s retirement, the couple lived in Fallbrook from 1968 to 1996. The Turners loved gardening and were avid members of the Fallbrook Garden Club, winning many ribbons for prize flowers. They raised several varieties of avocados, first 11 acres on Burma Road at Cazador Lane, then an acreage with a hilltop home on Sleeping Indian Road. Their final years in Fallbrook were lived in a patio home near downtown. They were members of St. Peter’s Catholic Church. They spent their final years in Texas, living near their only child, Nancy, but they never forgot the many friends and happy years they had in Fallbrook.
Harry Goold Turner
5/2/1906-12/26/2005
Harry was born in Chicago, IL, and was the second of five children born to Paul G. Turner and Melicent E. Goold. A quiet, cheerful man never known to say a mean word about anyone, Harry reflected the kindness and humility of his father’s birthright Philadelphia Quaker ancestors. He had a lively sense of humor and as a boy loved to play pranks and experiment with chemicals, radios and electricity. He had a radio operator’s license as a teenager. He graduated from New Trier High School in Wilmette, IL, and attended Armour Technical Institute in Chicago, studying engineering. During the Depression, he held a number of jobs, ranging from selling washing machines in Appalachia to traveling salesman selling auto parts. On a blind double date in Chicago, he met a petite, blue-eyed registered nurse, Clara K. Frank, whom he married June 2, 1937. Harry was unable to serve in World War II because he had lost the sight of an eye from a botched chemistry experiment as a boy (he always loved science and tinkering), so he went to work in a fledgling Chicago company that had invented the Walkie-Talkie and became famous for communications equipment: Motorola. As a radio engineer for the fledgling corporation, he met Motorola’s founder, Paul V. Galvin, and later worked for Galvin’s son Bob, who served a long career as CEO of Motorola. The Turners had one child, adopted daughter Nancy. Motorola transferred Harry to the Los Angeles area in 1961, then to Phoenix in 1963, to manage manufacturing plants. He retired in 1968 and moved to Fallbrook, where he and Clara bought an avocado grove. Harry’s skills at grafting were noticed by the California Department of Agriculture and the University of California Extension Service, who consulted on occasion with Harry. His agricultural skills led to his being named San Diego County Farmer of the Year in 1982. Harry served the Morro Hills community for several years, in charge of overseeing road maintenance, often filling potholes himself. Harry led a long, fruitful (literally), peaceful life. When asked, at age 96, the secret to a long, happy marriage and life, Harry said, “Be humble.” Indeed he was, but his sense of humor, wisdom, kindness and gentleness left big impressions on those who knew him. Harry died in Bandera, TX, at age 99 on October 26, 2005. Harry was preceded in death by his wife Clara, parents Paul and Melicent Turner, brothers Archibald and C. Roger Turner, sister Sylvia Turner Bowen (Mrs. Harvey Bowen, formerly of Fallbrook) and beloved grandson John Christopher Howe. Harry is survived by daughter Nancy L. Turner (Bandera, TX), beloved granddaughter Christine M. Paz (Albuquerque, NM) and husband Richard Paz, granddaughter-in-law Betty Jo Ross (Meade, KS), great-granddaughters Kimberly Howe-Ross, Moriah and Breanna Ross, great-grandson Devon Paz, soon-to-be born great-grandson Paz, beloved little sister Rosemary Turner Decker (Fallbrook), special son-in-law William J. Clayton and wife Margie Hughes (Houston, TX), sisters-in-law Olga (West Palm Beach) and Carolyn (Philadelphia) Turner, numerous other relatives and many good friends, including special Fallbrook friends Deena Travis, Mike Mahr and the family of Karen and John Fiedler. Berry-Bell and Hall of Fallbrook attended to inurnment arrangements.
Clara Katherine Frank Turner
9/24/1903-6/7/2002
Clara was born in Spring Green, WI, the oldest of eight children born to dairy farmers Adam Frank and Anna Reuschlein, who emigrated from Germany. The family soon moved to a farm in Chippewa Falls, WI, where Clara, nicknamed “Frankie,” graduated from McDonnell Catholic High School. She continued her education at Anker Hospital School of Nursing in St. Paul, MN, and began a career as a registered nurse. She loved caring for others. During the Depression, Clara and her sisters Cecile and Irene moved to Chicago and shared a bachlorette apartment, enjoying many movies in downtown Chicago and going on many dates. Clara worked at Little Company of Mary Hospital at Evergreen Park, IL, and also did private duty nursing. It wasn’t until she was in her 30s that she met Mr. Right: quiet, intelligent Harry Turner, who always had a warm, sincere handshake and smile. They were married on June 2, 1937. Clara retired from nursing when she married and became a homemaker, always having a productive home garden and many houseplants. After daughter Nancy was adopted in 1947, Clara became active in Nancy’s activities and spent several years as a Girl Scout leader. Clara’s dream of returning to rural life was fulfilled when Harry retired and they moved to the sleepy village of Fallbrook in 1968. Clara canned and froze many homegrown fruits and vegetables, made jam, enjoyed having visitors and cared for her aging mother-in-law. Clara raised many generations of cats, who are remembered as filling the branches of a large avocado tree at her grove on Burma Road. She loved to play the piano and sing. Her grandchildren were her delight. After moving to Texas to be near her daughter, she enjoyed the activities and social life of the assisted living center. But the crowning achievement in her final years was when she and Harry were elected Valentine Queen and King for 1998 at the assisted living center. She proudly wore her gold plastic jeweled crown for special occasions for an entire year. At age 98 she could still recite long poems memorized in school. Clara had two goals for the final years of her life: to live to see the Millennium and to live to be 100. She accomplished the first goal and almost made the second. Clara died at age 98 in Houston, TX, on June 7, 2002. Clara was preceded in death by her parents Adam and Anna Frank, brothers Richard, Norbert and Albert Frank, sisters Nellie Frank, Irene Hildenbrand and Cecile O’Donnell (Mrs. Myles O’Donnell of Fallbrook) and beloved grandson John Christopher. Clara was survived by brother William Frank and wife Jean (Eau Claire, WI), numerous nieces and nephews and by the many family members and special friends listed in husband Harry’s obituary. Berry-Bell and Hall made local inurnment arrangements.
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