Joseph Desha Turner IV Obituary
Joe was born in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri on March 30, 1956 while his dad was stationed there in the Army. He liked that sometimes his birthday fell on Easter. He spent a few years in Ft. Wort, TX, where his sister Ann was born, then on to California where he attended elementary school. He played sports from football to baseball and was in boy scouts. After a few years in Muskogee, Oklahoma he moved to Tulsa where he attended Nathan Hale High School. Due to a previous kidney disease, he didn't play on the teams, but loved sports so became the team trainer for football and swimming. He also played saxophone. He went to college at Oklahoma State where he joined a fraternity. He spent his adult life between Tulsa, Lavon, Texas and Las Vegas.
He was very proud of being the 6th – Joseph Desha Turner VI. This led Joe to a love of genealogy and discovering all the things his relatives did-from being a distant cousin to President Johnson to relatives who fought at the Alamo and relatives that were part of the cannon "come and take it". This research led to a passion for photography, like his well-known Great Grandfather Shuck of Shuck Studios. He took pictures at all the important events including but not limited to weddings, high school graduations, college graduations; helping document our memories. He only missed events when Ann had asked him to take care of the dogs. He loved taking beach and sunset/sunrise photos the most.
Joe worked in various jobs, usually becoming an assistant manager or manager. He worked in a warehouse and was the forklift driver. He worked for a liquor store where laws required all the bars bought their liquor from. After going into semi-retirement, he worked for a storage facility and for friends as kennel manager. In every job he had, he built strong friendships with his customers. He would find a way to get what they needed. They always knew they could count on him.
He loved reading westerns and frequently swapped books with his dad. He loved everyone's dog as his own. Ann's dogs cried more for him when he came for a visit than they did for her after she had been gone. The Caldwell's kennel dogs were usually sitting on the couch watching sports with him. He also loved to travel, even making it from one ocean to the other in one year.
Joe loved sports – college, pro, Olympics – all of them. He would help you do anything you needed, but sometimes you needed to plan around the next game. He loved to sit up at Mo's Exxon in Lavon to watch the games with whomever else came in.
Joseph Desha Turner VI is survived by sisters Ann [Turner] Horton (JR) and Sue [Turner] Jones (Chris), nieces Mashala [Horton] Temas (Daniel), Rayshel Horton and nephew Franklin Green (Jasmine), great nieces/nephews Abigail Temas, Matthew Temas, Trenton Green, Victor Green. He was preceded in death by his father Joseph Desha Turner V, mother Mary Ellen [Porter] Turner, brother Donald Ray Turner and ex-wife Joy.
Joe's kindness, support and helpful hand will be missed by many.
A funeral service to honor the life of Joseph "Joe" Desha Turner IV will be held at 2:00 p.m., on Saturday, February 15 at the Wilson Funeral Home Chapel burial will follow in the El Reno Cemetery.
