September 10, 2020 and 10:10 Joan Eileen Turner Williams slipped out of her mortal body. She was received into Heaven to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus, The Anointed. We, her family, are rejoicing in the knowledge of her stepping out of pain into a glorious new life.
She was born in Gadsden, Alabama on Valentines Day 1931. Gadsden is a small city in northern Alabama of lush green rolling mountains, clear streams, water falls, Magnolia and Oak trees, sidewalks, soda fountains, and dime stores. In Joan's eyes, this is what the whole world should look like and hopefully Heaven is no less sweet. Joan was the first daughter of Bessie and Gene Turner. Bessie was a petite, black headed beauty that caught the eye of a tall, strapping young man driving a Stutz Bearcat roadster. Gene Turner was a strong-willed man determined to escape the farm. He successfully landed an entry level position with the Alabama Power Company. He worked his way up to Master Lineman of the County, climbing poles, providing standard and emergency high voltage services for the community until he retired. With tall, slim, chiseled features he was a powerful man. He, in my eyes, looked like Randolph Scott. Bessie was short, petite, and always dressed. She wore high heels all day, even to do her house work. Together they lived the American dream. When Gene got religion, he went all the way. He ran a strict, wholesome house. Joan Turner was a teenager during WW2. She taught herself to move like the graceful women movie stars of the day. She pictured herself as the antebellum Scarlet O'Hara. She was 16 working in the dime store when she met a young soldier, Leldon Williams, just home from the war. It was truly a meet-cute. A year later he was discharged from the Army and they were married. Two years later their first son, Rusty was born, and 12 years after that, their second son, David. She taught her boys how to dance with dignity and grace, how to speak to all persons young and old, male and female. They were taught to rise when a lady enters the room, take off their hats when entering a home; to say, “Yes ma'am and no ma'am”. Today, they are corrected quite often by women who say, “You don't have to say ma'am to me”. Yes they do. She taught them how to shake a man's hand and how to shake a lady's hand. She made great effort to impress upon their dad to follow the same accepted rules of etiquette. In many ways he did. Joan was an accomplished beautician. She had a strong soprano voice. She loved singing in the church choir. She and Leldon were in church every time the doors opened and she instilled the love of God in Rusty and David. She could work as long and hard as any man. Together, Joan and Leldon built their house in Liberty. Not just the house, but a huge workshop and a pole barn. It was not that Joan brought water out to Leldon as he built. Joan lifted and carried and dug and nailed and climbed ladders, and fell off ladders. Over the years she collected more steel rods, screws, and replacement parts in her body than a rebuilt Model T. Her little skeleton simply wore out. We have received several phone calls from Magnolia Nursing Home in Liberty. Joan was a resident there for over a year. Each staff member that made a special effort to make a phone call was passionate about the love they had for Joan. They said that they would go to her room just to sit and talk or she would go to the nurses station in the middle of the night to drink coffee, eat peanut butter crackers, and chat. They said that Joan was like family to them. She shared life secrets about how to live, love, and worship. We are most pleased to know that through many people her life will continue. She planted the seeds of Jesus' love. It is quite evident those seeds are multiplying. She wanted to go home to Heaven shortly after Leldon crossed over on October 9, 2018. They had been married 70 years. Her sister, Marleen Wetzel preceded Joan's trip to Heaven. Her younger brother, Leonard Turner, is a Cumberland Presbyterian pastor in Tennessee. Her loving niece, Susan Wetzel, stayed with Leldon and Joan many months at a time in Leldon's last days. Rusty married the daughter of a pillar of the community, LeAnn, a professional business woman. Joan's eldest granddaughter, Laura, is a business owner. Julia, the youngest granddaughter is a Speech – Language Pathologist, and Julia's husband, Trevor, is a software developer. They are all a delight to her. David is the quintessential athlete. He grew to become a gentle giant, a strong leader, and business manager, a true man of integrity who married a wonderful and prosperous woman, Kenua.
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