Bertie Turner

TUPELO - Bertie L. Turner, 91, died Sunday, June 22, 2008, at The Sanctuary Hospice House after an extended illness. A Saltillo native, she was born Nov. 9, 1916, to Arthur David and Martha Pearl Lindsey Turner. She was a 1934 honors graduate of Saltillo High School and recipient of the Balfour Award, which recognizes scholarship, character, service and leadership. She attended TMI Junior College in Tupelo, studying Spanish and history. She began work as a sales clerk at F.W. Woolworth's in Tupelo, served as a floor lady for the store, and became an assistant manager during World War II. She later moved to Atlanta, Ga., as assistant manger for American Associated Companies, an import-export business, and attended the University of Georgia Business School for two years. She then accepted a secretarial position with the Carnation Milk Company in Tupelo, a position she held for 25 years until her retirement when the plant closed in 1972.

She became a member of Saltillo First Baptist Church at the age of 13, was baptized in a farm pool close to Guntown, and remained an active member of that church, serving as a Sunday School teacher and in other leadership positions until moving to Tupelo in the late 1990's to be a companion to her sister. She was currently a member of Calvary Baptist Church. She enjoyed traveling, reading, gardening and classical music. She was recognized by friends and relatives as an accomplished cook and a strict grammarian with a remarkable memory for quoting poetry and Scripture.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Calvary Baptist Church with the Rev. Steve Hurt and the Rev. David Eldridge officiating. Burial will be in Saltillo Cemetery. W.E. Pegues Funeral Directors is in charge of the arrangements.

Survivors include three nieces and one nephew to whom she was foster mother, Holly Turner Nelson (Jamie) of Baldwyn, Dawn Turner Robison of Saltillo, Lynn Turner Smith (Rodney) of Chattahoochee, Fla., and Grant Turner (Sharon) of Richlands, N.C. Survivors also include two brothers, James Darryl Turner (Dora) of Tupelo and Bill Turner of Kingsport, Tenn; 24 other nieces and nephews, 38 great-nieces and great-nephews, and a host of other relatives and devoted friends to whom she was known as "Aunt Bertie."

She was preceded in death by her parents, Martha Pearl and Arthur David Turner for whom she was caregiver; two brothers, Arthur Grey Turner and Noel Turner; and two sisters, Jewel Crawford and Carmen McCulley.

Pallbearers will be Merrill Johnston, Rick Maynard, Guy Gravlee, Fred Strange, Heywood Washburn, Barton Wynn and Aubry Hays.

Visitation will be 5 to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home.

Memorials may be made to Calvary Baptist Church, P.O. Box 1008, Tupelo, MS 38802; or The Sanctuary Hospice House, P.O. Box 2177, Tupelo, MS 38803; or the charity of the donor's choice.

Expressions of sympathy may be left at www.peguesfuneralhome.com .