Wayne C Turnbull SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO - Long time missionary, pastor and educator, the Rev. Wayne C Turnbull, 90, passed peacefully into the presence of his Lord July 14, 2018, surrounded by his loving family. Wayne was born May 19, 1928, in San Pedro, California, the son of the late Robert Bruce Turnbull and Mary Etta Diamond Turnbull. He was the youngest of eight children.
Wayne’s family later moved to San Bernardino, California, where he graduated from San Bernardino High School in 1946. He attended Central Bible College (now Evangel University), Springfield, MO followed by Southern California Bible College, Pasadena, Calif. (now Vanguard University) where he graduated in 1950 with a B.A. in Bible and Missions. He received an M.A. in Cross Cultural Communications from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.
With a passion to share the gospel, Wayne was involved in ministry for over 60 years. He was ordained in 1951 with the Assemblies of God and began full-time ministry as the youth and music pastor of his home church, First Assembly of God of San Bernardino.
Challenged by the needs in Haiti by his missionary uncle, Dr. John Turnbull, Wayne joined him as a missionary to Haiti, where they ministered together for one year.
He returned to San Bernardino where he married his hometown sweetheart, Doris Louise Glenn, on September 21, 1951.
The couple raised five wonderful children while serving in the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Panama, where they pastored an evangelistic center, directed Bible institutes, and did television and radio ministry.
Wayne accepted a position at North Central University, Minneapolis, MN (formerly North Central Bible College) as Missionary in Residence and Chairman of the Missions department from 1974-1979.
During a student outreach trip, Wayne was greatly moved by the tremendous needs in Mexico City. This inspired him to return to Mexico, where he labored for the next 16 years, establishing three evangelistic centers through church planting crusades and served as Area Director over 73 missionaries.
In 1995, Wayne returned to Southern California where he ministered among the Hispanic churches for the next ten years, seven of which he served as Area Director.
These are the statistics but only God knows the thousands of people whose lives were forever changed through Wayne’s ministry. He was a faithful man of God who joyfully obeyed God’s call upon his life.
God’s love was evidenced in his life, both behind the pulpit and in his home. Through nearly 67 years of marriage he cherished his loving wife as they ministered together. He was a fun-loving father, grandfather and great grandfather full of warmth and humor.
He is survived by his wife, Doris L. Turnbull; his five children, Debra (J.Keith) Atchley, Sherilyn (Dr. Benjamin) Kaufman, Joanne (Dr. Robert) Menzies, Sandra Turnbull, and Wayne T. Turnbull; seven grandchildren, Amy, Alysia, Jonathan, Jessica, Jonathan, Sarah and Katie; seven great grandchildren; one brother, Rev. William D. Turnbull, and two sisters-in-law, Esther Turnbull and Nadine Brinkman.
We will always miss Wayne’s sweet spirit, beautiful smile and encouraging words. A celebration of his life will be held at South Coast Christian Church, 31501 Avenida Los Cerritos, San Juan Capistrano, California, on Saturday, July 28 at 2:00 pm.
