Reba Louise (Nelson) TURNER

TURNER, NELSON, CHERRY, RUDESILL, TESSMAN, DUNCAN, ROQUETTE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/31/2007 at 12:04:21

September 5, 2005
Mason City Globe Gazette

GARNER — Reba L. Turner, 99, of Garner, died Saturday (Sept. 3, 2005) at the Concord Care Center, Garner. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the United Methodist Church in Garner with the Rev. David Wagner officiating. Burial will be at a later date in Evergreen Cemetery in Clarion. Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. today at the Cataldo Funeral Home in Garner and one hour prior to services at the church on Tuesday.

Reba Louise Turner, the daughter of Andrew Jackson and Lucy Ann (Cherry) Nelson was born Aug. 16, 1906, on a farm near Drake, N.D. When she was six months old, she moved with her family to Dubuque and later to Walker, Iowa, where she graduated from Walker High School in 1924. Reba received her normal teaching certificate at Iowa State Teacher’s College in Cedar Falls and taught in the rural schools near Walker for two years. She then continued her education at Iowa State University at Ames for two years. On May 17, 1929, she was married to J. Eric Turner at Cedar Rapids. They farmed near Adair and later at Lineville. In 1938, they moved to Cedar Rapids and in 1964 to Ely, where they operated a hatchery and convenience store. In 1968, they moved to the Cottage Reserve Area near Solon. In 1978, they moved to Galt, and in 1981 to Garner. Reba and Eric enjoyed spending their winters in Mission, Texas, which Reba continued doing for 11 years after John passed away. She was a member of the United Methodist Church in Garner, UMW and the Charity Rebekah Lodge in Britt.

Reba is survived by her children: Harold (Loraine) Turner of Spring Valley, Wis., John (Irma) Turner of Rogers, Ark., Ann (Kent) Rudesill of Baldwin, Wis., Nelson (Joan) Turner of Wesley, Jean (John) Tessman of Garner, Bill (Lois) Turner of Charleston, S.C., and Jim (Pat) Turner of Marion; 39 grandchildren; 66 great-grandchildren; and 5 great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Eric, Oct. 21, 1980; a daughter, Ruth Turner, in 1940; two brothers, Vernon and Howard Nelson; and four grandchildren, Terri Tessman Duncan, Rollie Roquette, Joshua Turner and Justin Turner. Cataldo Funeral Home.