Dewell Edward Turner

Dewell Edward Turner, 92, died Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, at his home in Tulsa. He was born March 26, 1932, in the Possum Walk community near Crabtree, Ark., the son of Luther Loyd Turner and Martha Pearl (Autry) Turner. He grew up in and around Clinton, Ark., until his father answered the call and became a Methodist pastor. The family lived in several north Arkansas towns, including Conway - where Dewell played football briefly for Conway High School Wampus Cats - and Greenbrier - where he graduated from high school in 1950. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force just before the outbreak of the Korean War. He flew several combat missions as a gunner on a B-29 bomber, including the "Black Tuesday" raid on the Namsi Airfield on Oct. 23, 1951. Following his honorable discharge from the service, he enrolled at Hendrix College in Conway in 1953. On the first day of class, he approached a pretty, dark-haired girl from Ozark, Ark., and asked, "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" "I don't know," she responded. "Where have you been?" That girl turned out to be the love of his life, Shirley Layne Russell, whom he married on June 29, 1957, just after they both graduated from Hendrix. He joined the Social Security Administration in 1957 and worked in offices in Little Rock, Ark., Pine Bluff, Ark., Baton Rouge, La., El Dorado, Ark., Monroe, La., Dallas and Fort Smith, Ark. In 1971, he was named northeast Oklahoma district manager for the Social Security Administration and moved with his family to Tulsa, where he spent the remaining 53 years of his life. After his retirement from Social Security in 1991, the couple owned and operated Shirley's Country Casuals, a women's apparel shop, until 1997. He was a faithful member of Methodist churches in every community where he lived. In Tulsa, he served in a number of leadership roles and as an adult Sunday school teacher at Christ United Methodist Church, now Christ Church on Harvard. Dewell was a genealogy buff, researching his family history back to his ancestors' homeland in Scotland. He and Shirley traveled throughout the southern U.S. with his brother, O.D. Turner and his wife, Helen, in search of family connections. He learned to play golf later in life and for years enjoyed regular rounds with his friends. Dewell and Shirley also participated in Friday night dinner outings followed by spirited games of Rook with their closest friends from their Sunday school class. Dewell was an avid fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks and Dallas Cowboys, and later learned to love the Oklahoma State Cowboys and St. Louis Cardinals. He was usually very quiet in groups, but had a wry and self-deprecating sense of humor, often catching people who didn't know him well by surprise with funny comments and stories. He taught himself to play the guitar and would often sing to his younger son, Jeff, when he was a toddler. He loved to listen to old style western music, gospel and hymns. He was preceded in death by his parents and an infant brother. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Shirley, of the home; his brother, O.D. Turner of Little Rock; three children, Lori Leigh (Turner) Crane and her husband David of Mansfield, Ohio, Russell Loyd "Rusty" Turner and his wife Anita of Rogers, Ark., and Jeffery Lane Turner and his wife Kerry of Tulsa; five grandsons, Stephen Andrew Turner and his wife Amber of Benton, Kan., Philip Lloyd Crane of Lexington, Va., Zachary Lane Turner of Tulsa, Matthew Thomas Turner and his wife Brittany of Springdale, Ark., and Marc Alan Turner of Tulsa; three great-grandchildren, Eliza Grace, Nathaniel James and Lillian Hope Turner, all of Benton; and many cousins, nieces and nephews. Funeral will be 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, at Christ Church on Harvard, 3515 S. Harvard Ave., with Pastor Bob Feist officiating. Interment with military honors will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa. Memorial contributions may be made to Christ Church on Harvard or Hendrix College.

Dewell Edward Turner

March 26, 1932 - October 20, 2024