William Leonard Turner Jr.

William “Bill” Leonard Turner, Jr of Dunwoody, GA Passed away peacefully on August 24th after a long illness. He would have turned 69 next month. He is preceded in death by his mother Barbara A. Turner and his father William L. Turner, Sr. Bill is survived by his siblings, Barbara Hunter and her husband Mark, Terry Rubin and her husband Richard, Kevin Turner and his wife Enid, and Carol Gregoire and her husband Bill, and by his nieces and nephews: Daniel Rubin and his wife Bea, Steven Rubin, Katherine Brunson and her husband Sean, Josh Gregoire, Matthew Turner, and Natalie Turner. In his last years, Bill enjoyed spending time with his grand nieces, Olivia and Ava, his grand nephews, Benjamin and George, and his close friend Jane Lounsberry, with whom he shared their cat Dexter.

Bill was born at Mitchel Air Force Base in Hempstead, New York on September 13th 1957. After his parents completed their service in the Air Force, Bill and the rest of the family moved frequently across the Eastern United States. After settling down in Atlanta, he attended grade school at Our Lady of Assumption Parish and later endured Marist High School’s Jr. ROTC program for 6 years. He used to boast that he was awarded the highest number of Military Demerits in the School’s history. While Marist was an excellent school, the ROTC Program was not the best fit for his defiance. Bill entered Marist in the 7th grade with the rank of Private, and when he graduated six years later, Bill’s rank was, you guessed it - still a Private. His life-long motto was “Question Authority,” and question it he did. He was just as fascinated by the great uprisings of history as he was by the countercultural music of the 60s and 70s, with the Grateful Dead and Tom Petty being among his favorites.

After High School, Bill enrolled at the University of Georgia. He absolutely loved his time there, to such an extent that he stayed enrolled for 7 years. He was a proud resident of the Zoo, an illustrious house in Athens that was notorious for throwing some of the most raucous keg parties in town. The Zoo’s parties were known to be difficult to shut down as the police were frequently in attendance, having been called out on a noise complaint, but then decided to stay for the music and free-spirited antics that were always just a moment away.

Bill earned his BS in Geology and, after a brief stint in the Texas oil business and a role as an analyst with the Defense Mapping Agency, he returned to UGA to earn his Master of Science in Geology. Bill absolutely loved studying rocks—igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic, he loved them all. His rock collection was his proudest possession and filled much of his condominium. Anyone who spent time with Bill at home knew firsthand the astonishing size of his collection of fascinating minerals.

He enjoyed taking long walks for exercise as well as the pure enjoyment of spending time outdoors. On many occasions he would photograph and catch reptiles that he encountered in the woods around his work and home, and due to his expertise was frequently called upon to catch and relocate snakes from friend’s yards. He never met a snake he didn’t like, much less one he couldn’t catch.

Bill worked up until the time of his illness as a Senior Research Microscopist at MVA Scientific Consultants. He was proud of having come up with the name of their newsletter “Small Things Considered” and was also known for holding the ceremonial title of “Chief Grilling Officer”, grilling on his Big Green Egg at many memorable company events. He loved working at MVA so much that he never wanted to retire.

Bill lived exactly as he pleased, on his own terms, surrounded by the people, the rocks, and the wide-open woods he loved. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

Services for Bill will be held at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Atlanta, GA at 11 AM on Friday, September 4th.