Charles Robert Turner

My name is Charles Robert Turner. I was one of twelve children who were born and raised on the family farm in Homeville, Cape Breton Island. If you are reading this that means that I have passed. I feel I have lived a good life, one filled with many blessings. I was born on May 21, 1935 at Glace Bay Hospital. My mother’s name was Laura (MacKenzie) Turner of Glace Bay and my father, who was a miner turned farmer, was also of Glace Bay.

I graduated from Morrison High School, Glace Bay, in 1953. From there I attended the Teachers’ College in Truro, NS, graduating from there in 1955.

As I began my career in teaching, I also worked towards upgrading my license on a part time basis at St. Mary’s University.

My 35 year teaching career first started at Hammond Plains School (grades P-9), after one year there, I served as principal for the next 31 years as Principal at Fairview Elementary then renamed Titus-Smith Elementary, and the last two years before my retirement, I taught grade 4 at Fairview Heights Elementary.

On August 11, 1962, I married the love of my life Jean (Cruickshank) Turner. We had 47 wonderful years together before she passed on December 23, 2009 due to complications from ALS.

While I absolutely loved teaching, my real passion was finding ways to serve the poor and living out my faith through Fairview United Church where I was an active member since 1960.

I filled various leadership roles at Fairview United Church over the years such as Sunday School Superintendent, Clerk of Session, Chair of Council, as well as many other committees. This also included chairing the Parent n Tot group at Fairview United which is now known as Nova Village. In addition to this, I served the wider United Church community through Halifax Presbytery and Maritime Conference. I sat on various committees including the Education and Students Committee where I interviewed students preparing for Ordination.

My passion for serving the poor in our local community led me to collaborate with other churches in the area. This resulted in the establishment of the Halifax West Ecumenical Food Bank. Because of my work with the food bank, I received the Readers Digest Article Community Hero Award in 2005 and was featured on ATV Live at Five as a follow-up.

Other awards that I received were:

Volunteer Services to Board and Operations of Halifax West Ecumenical Food Bank, May 2010,

Volunteer Service to Fairview United Community, Fairview United Church Seniors’ Luncheon, by HRM, 2011

Volunteer, Parent ‘n Tot Meeting Place, September 2012

Outstanding Volunteer in the HRM, by Halifax Regional Council, April 2014

Certificate of Appreciation, Halifax West Ecumenical Food Bank, March 2016

The Helping Hands Award, The Metro Foodbank

I was pre-deceased by my loving wife, Jean in 2009. I was also predeceased by nine siblings: Lester Turner, Roy Turner, Art Turner, Doris MacDonald, Doug Turner, Will Turner, Florence Jones, Mildred Turner (age 3), and two sisters who died at birth.

I am survived by one sister, Mary (Terry) Kennedy. I am also survived by two sister-in-law’s, Lois (Will) Turner, and Ann (Derhyk) Wolfe (Jean’s sister). I also have many nieces and nephews.

I have many people to thank for helping me through these last few years of my life, Cindy and Raymond Ells, the staff at Parkstone Enhanced Care, and my Fairview United Church Family. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all for who you are and what you do.

Visitation will take place on Friday, January 9, 2026 from 2-4 pm at J. A. Snow Funeral Home, 339 Lacewood Drive, Halifax. Funeral service is scheduled for Saturday, January 10th, 10 am at Hillside United Church, 12 Flamingo Dr, Halifax and may be be livestreamed at the following link https://youtube.com/@hillsideav?si=NQHdlGt5yd8MUER_