T.J. Wayne Turner

He enjoyed playing outside and riding his bike as a child. While outside, you could count on T.J. to pick up a rock and stick it in his pocket. He would bring home so many rocks his mom would collect handfuls of them every time she did his laundry. He loved to learn and enjoyed going to school. Always a socialite, T.J. made friends easily as a child. He was taught that through hard work, he could make money and he liked that idea. He hustled odd jobs as young boy, washing cars and shoveling driveways so he could save it or help out his family and friends.

As T.J. got older, his work hustle grew and he found a passion for driving. For nearly a decade, T.J. drove a school bus for Fountain Fort Carson Schools. His coworkers became his “D8 Family” and the students he drove became an extension of that family. Known to most of those students as “the best bus driver ever,” T.J. took pride in transporting children of all ages, helping guide them and being one of the first smiling faces they would see every day. When the time came, T.J. decided to further his career with the City of Colorado Springs Mountain Metro Transit and, with that decision, added a whole new limb to his family tree, his “Metro Family”. Keeping true to his happy and loving personality, T.J. embodied bold and wonderful attributes, but one that stands out the most was his laugh. Not a soul who knew T.J. could mistake his laugh for another’s. A one-of-a-kind laugh for a one-of-a-kind person.

T.J.’s adult life was spent doing the things he loved the most. His job being one of them, but on his off time, you could find him driving through the mountains, taking care of his crisp 2020 Malibu, or wondering about the cosmos and the things beyond. He loved taking care of his little dog, Lexie, too. You could find him walking her outside their home, picking up rocks, and sticking them in his pocket to take back inside for display on the fireplace.

Above all else, T.J.’s kindness, ability to connect to people, willingness to help and laughter live on. His beautiful smile and contagious laugh are etched into the memory of all who knew him.

On October 14, 2024 T.J. Turner passed suddenly while pursuing his passion. T.J. is survived by his mother Lisa G. Locke, “Dad” Michael Olan, brothers Tyler Turner and Bryan Locke, sister Christy Hainline, grandmother Donna L. Barstow and an extended family of aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. T.J. was preceded in death by his grandfather David Barstow.

A Poem for TJ:

In the quiet whispers of the night, your laughter lingers, a gentle light. Every star above, a tale we share, a bond unbroken, a love laid bare.

Through fields of memories, I wander alone each step a reminder, your spirit has grown. In every breeze that brushes my face, I feel your warmth, your sweet embrace.

Thought time may fade the day we knew, in my heart, forever I’ll carry you. A flicker of hope in the darkest despair, your lover’s an echo, always there.

So here, dear one, I send my prayer, in the tapestry of life, you’re always near. With love unending, I’ll cherish your name in silence and memory, it’s always the same.