William Edward Turner Jr.

William Edward “Bill” Turner Jr. 84, Died August 14, 2017. Born on September 18, 1932 in Centerville, TN to Mabel Penn Turner and William Edward Turner, Bill Turner moved to Nashville before he was a year old. He attended Peabody Demonstration School through the ninth grade and graduated from West High School in 1950. While at Vanderbilt University on a full NROTC scholarship, he was president of the local chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and active in campus organizations. After graduation, Bill served in the U.S. Navy for three years as an officer, principally in the eastern Mediterranean with the U.S. 6th Fleet. He loved the U.S. Navy and had great stories, and a few bawdy songs, from those days. After leaving the Navy in 1957, he started a 55-year career at Merrill Lynch in Nashville where he was a top national producer, member of the first Merrill Lynch advisory board to management, and chairman of its third advisory board to management.Bill loved people and was loved by many in return. Within the Nashville community, he took great pleasure raising money and serving on the boards of a number of organizations. At Vanderbilt University, he chaired national campaigns, the National Alumni Board of Trust, and several reunion committees. He helped found the College Cabinet for the Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science and also the board for the Owen School. A lifelong member of Belmont United Methodist Church, he led the Administrative Board, headed fundraising efforts, and taught high school Sunday school classes for 45 years. The downtown YMCA was a regular stop for workouts on his way home. President of the downtown YMCA Board and the YMCA Foundation Board, he received the Y’s Red Triangle Award in 1993 and H.G. Hill Jr. Philanthropic Award in 1998. Bill served on boards for the Boy Scouts of America’s Middle Tennessee Council, Operation Andrew, Men of Valor, and the Nashville Mental Health Board, as well as Cheekwood’s first board. He headed the advisory board for the Nashville Area Command of the Salvation Army and received awards from the Boy Scouts of America, Men of Valor, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Salvation Army, and Merrill Lynch (Award for Community Service in 2002). In addition, Bill was a member of the Nashville Exchange Club, Leadership Nashville, Nashville Security Dealers (past president), the Old Oak Club, Hillwood Country Club, and the Keeneland Club and Idle Hour Country Club of Lexington, KY.He is survived by his wife of 58 years Catherine Wilson Turner; his daughter Tucker Turner Read and husband Robert Read of Memphis, TN; his son Woody Turner and wife Jennifer Hardman Turner of Chevy Chase, MD; two grandchildren Madeleine Lanier Turner and William Hardman Turner of Chevy Chase, MD; and cousins William Thomas Penn (Joan) of Madison, WI; Mary Louise Fisher (David) of Lexington, KY; Elizabeth Barr (Hootie) of Paris, KY; and Lucy Trent (Keith) of Charlotte, NC.Visitation will be 4:30 to 7:00 PM Friday, August 18, at Belmont United Methodist Church on the corner of 21st Avenue South and Acklen Avenue. The funeral service will be 3:00 PM Saturday, August 19, at Belmont United Methodist Church, reception following. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, the Salvation Army – Nashville Area Command, or a charity of choice. Burial at a later date in Lexington, KY. Visist the online obituary www.woodlawnroesch-pattonfh.com