Mary Jo Turner

Our beloved sister, aunt, great aunt and friend, age 76, passed away peacefully at home in Keizer, Oregon on March 9, 2026, ending her courageous battle with diabetes, heart disease, and end-stage renal failure.

She was born to Deloy (Dean) Evans and Gwenevere Miller Evans on August 10, 1949, the second of three children, while Dean served in the US Marine Corp at Camp Pendleton, California. She later gained three additional siblings, all girls, following her parents’ divorce in 1951 and her mother’s subsequent marriage to James G. Sheets.

Jo was a studious and responsible child and, as the oldest daughter, was often called on to look after her younger sisters, a role she assumed without complaint or difficulty. We all adored her. She was our rock, our north star, our role model.

Our mom was what used to be known as a “house wife” and spent most of her time washing and drying dishes and clothing, making beds, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming and dusting, shopping, cooking, baking, gardening, preserving, ironing, sewing, mending, and otherwise looking after her husband and six children – at least until we girls grew older and took on many of those chores ourselves.

Using the GI bill, our dad earned his drafting certificate at night school while working as a framer for a construction crew during the day. After graduating, he worked as an independent contractor taking whatever temporary engineering or drafting jobs that came available, often tied to various government projects or contracts, most of which required our family to relocate. So, for the next five years or more that was our life - pulling a fully loaded U-Haul trailer hitched to the rear of our fully loaded station wagon, from one destination to another, moving to or from one rental house after another, and into or out of one school district after another. “On the road again,” Willie Nelson would later sing “Like a band of gypsies, we go down the highway,” lyrics that never failed to remind me of our very own vagabond days. From Boise, Idaho to Manchester, Tennessee, to Sunnyvale, California, to Weimar, California, to Salem, Oregon and, finally, to Portland, Oregon once dad secured a permanent position with an engineering firm there. Jo graduated from Madison High School in 1967 - along with a very large number of other senior students, many of whom she’d barely had a chance to meet.

After high school, she worked for a variety of employers including an orthopedic clinic and as a clerk for the Portland Police Bureau where she eventually met the love of her life, Robert W. Turner, a senior officer. Jo and Bob married in 1975 and shared a wonderful life together. They loved to go “snow birding” in their travel trailer every year, play golf, and bowl with friends, spend time on their boat, the “Sinky Maru”, and attend many of the family reunions and get togethers that were planned over the years. Bob especially enjoyed entertaining their many nieces and nephews playing the guitar and regaling them with some of the old country songs he grew up singing in Vernonia with his own very talented siblings.

Jo also loved to entertain and was a popular hostess. She enjoyed a lifelong love of music of all kinds, travel, and making friends where ever she went including a number of trips to various US states as well as to Canada, Mexico, a number of European and Scandinavian countries, Greece, Egypt, and China. She loved to delight us all with the gifts and stories she collected during her travels. She also had a wicked sense of humor and loved telling jokes.

During her early years of marriage Jo worked as a preschool teacher, a job she loved and which reflected her deep love of children and her heart’s desire to become a mother herself – which, sadly, she was ultimately unable to attain. Much later in life, however, she would occasionally be recognized and approached by former preschool students, now adults, who expressed their appreciation and gratitude for the difference she had made in their young lives. Those moments were enormously satisfying and she loved to recall each and every encounter.

Following Bob’s death in 2007, Jo established and ran an annual charity golf event at Glendoveer Golf Course through 2017 which helped raise funds for Sacred Flight, an organization providing music thanatology to patients at life’s end as well as loved ones holding vigil. She also helped raise funds for an organization providing free GPS bracelets to missing persons with early onset Alzheimer’s disease to help identify, locate, and protect them from harm. Jo’s unwavering support and tireless work helped to ensure that every event was a resounding success.

In addition to her husband, Jo was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, David R. Evans; her sister, Susan M. Woodings; her brothers-in-law, Forest “Woody” Woodings and William “Bill” Sherrod; and her nephew, Andrew Woodings.

She is survived by her remaining sisters, Kathi La Croix, Debbie Sherrod, and Cindee McKinney in addition to her brothers-in-law, Ken La Croix and Steve McKinney. She is also survived by her remaining step-daughter, Melody Turner. Surviving nieces and nephews include Heather Glasheen and husband Edward; Holly Matheny; Sarah Matheny Goodfellow and husband Matthew; Rebecca Woodings; Kristopher Gray Sheets and wife Jeanette; and by Martin, Marilyn, and Mattew McKinney. Surviving great nieces and nephews include Connor and Ryan Glasheen; Alissa Dupell and husband Garrett; Alex Rodriguez; Emily Rodriguez and partner Ismael Quintero Jr.; Alyson and Blake Goodfellow; Brittany and Michael Woodings; and Mia Sheets. She is also survived by one great, grandniece, Audriana Rodriguez Quintero.

A memorial service will be held at 11:30am on Friday, April 17, 2026 at Lincoln Memorial Park & Funeral Home. A reception will follow. Final interment of cremains will consist of burial at sea to be held later this year. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests donations be made to a charity of choice.