Editor’s note: This is one of a continuing online series of profiles of the more than 12,000 Hoosiers who have died from COVID-19. The stories are from 12 Indiana newspapers, including The Republic, who collaborated to create the collection to highlight the tremendous loss that the pandemic has created. The series appears daily at therepublic.com.
Name: Stanley Emerson Turner II
Age: 74
Town: Evansville
Died: April 6, 2020
Survivor of serious illnesses, doting father and grandfather, Navy veteran, sportsman, lover of the Lord — Stanley Emerson Turner II was so much more than Vanderburgh County’s first resident to die in the coronavirus pandemic, according to his loved ones.
The 74-year-old Turner died at 2:15 a.m. April 6, 2020 at Ascension St. Vincent Health in Evansville with his wife, Kathy Turner, by his side. Kathy had already tested positive herself. The couple had been married nearly 53 years.
Stanley Turner II always encouraged people to follow their dreams. He was remembered by family as the jolly joker, the encourager, he of the big laugh and the even bigger heart — who meant so much to them.
Kathy said they’d received so many calls of condolence. Stan Turner left a big footprint on this earth.
“One girl called — she had a teenaged pregnancy and her parents kicked her out,” Kathy said. “She came to our house, and she stayed for several weeks until she could get things straightened out. He had a heart for kids. He never met a stranger. Every time he saw you he was hugging you. He was always encouraging people to follow their dreams.”
Stan could be silly — he was famous for his Elmer Fudd happy birthday song — but he was a rock too, Kathy said.
“He was a great man. He had a lot of integrity, character and work ethic. He was just an old school kind of guy,” she said.
Stan Turner joined the Navy and served two years of active duty and 23 years of reserve duty, retiring as a Chief Petty Officer. It was in the Navy that he learned his trade — sheet metal journeyman and welder. His family said he was a craftsman who took uncommon pride in his work.
— By the Evansville Courier Press
