Sylvia Katherine Turner

Rochester Hills

Sylvia passed away on January 27, 2019. She was born Sylvia Johnson on December 19, 1936 to Alphonse and Katherine Johnson on the east side of Detroit. She attended Wayne State University prior to stating her professional career as the editor of the (then) Detroit Shopping News.

Her next position was that of Director of Public Relations for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra during the Sixten Ehrlin, Aldo Ceccato & Antal Dorati years. In 1982 she married Raymond Turner, the then principal trombonist of the DSO.

Sylvia then joined the staff of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as their Director of Public Relations, a tenure that encompassed that orchestra’s highly successful Loren Maazel era. Throughout the symphonic profession Sylvia was considered among the best in her profession.

In 1999 she and her husband, Raymond, returned to the metro-Detroit area to be closer to her immediate family, her mother and brother. After a short retirement Sylvia worked for several years with attorney’s Doug Otlewski and John Maloney as a part time office manager in Rochester, finally retiring for good in 2015.

She was preceded in her passing by her Father and Mother. She is survived by her husband Raymond Turner, and her brother, Andrew Johnson (Macomb). She is also survived by her best friend of some 70-yearsm May Leon (Huntington Woods), her closest friend since elementary school. All who knew Sylvia will miss her greatly... she is a big loss to all of us.