Dolores L Turner's Obituary
Dolores Turner Obituary
Dolores Louise Boyd Turner was the eldest of 5 siblings born to Joseph and Mary Boyd. Dolores was born on December 15, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois.
Her family moved to Robbins, Illinois when she was 12 where she attended Lincoln Memorial School and Blue Island Community High School. When she was 16, she travelled to Wilberforce, Ohio to attend Wilberforce
University to pursue her degree in education. After her sophomore year she transfered to the University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign then returned to Robbins to begin a carreer as a first grade teacher that spanned over 30 years.
Dolores attended church at a young age. She attended Wheeler Chapel Church, Bethel A.M.E. in Madison, Ilinois, and in 1952 found her life long home at Bethel A.M.E. in Robbins,Ilinois.
A strong believer in community service while in high school, she organized a group of friends to volunteer for the Red Cross during World War II. This spirit of giving to her community continued as she led her friends in organizing the Villiage Activities Guild. The VAG, as it became known, began as a co-ed community service organization. Ultimately the women sponsored the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts; held literacy classes for adults and voter registration. The VAG sponsored youth activities such as movies during Summer and the "Fiesta".
In 1958 she began pursuing her dream of having a Cotillion for the young women of Robbins. She introduced the idea to the other members of the VAG and with their full support and special assistance of the late Constance Ramona Daugherty, launched a Cotillion that presented over 200 young women and later, young men to society.
Dolores Turner endered into holy matrimony with Ralph R. Turner and from their union came three children: Karl (Marilyn), Edgar and Teddiye; five grandsons: Jason, Marcus, Bradley, Karl and Sean and one special grandaughter of the heart, DeAngela.
Ralph and Dolores shared their dreams and goals always encouraging and supporting. This support inspired her to pursue higer education goals leading to earning both, Masters and Specialists degrees from DePaul.
True to her passion of community service, upon the passing of her beloved husband, she started the Ralph R. Turner Endowed Scholarship at Governors State University. The university later honored her by expanding this scholarship to become the Ralph and Dolores Turner Scholarship.
She served as a member of the board of directors of the William Leonard Public Library from 1993 to 2015.
Dolores Turner quietly departed this life on April 10, 2019. Dolores was preceeded in death by her husband, Ralph R Turner; her parents, Joseph and Mary Boyd; her sisters: Barbara and Joyce and her brother, Joseph Donald Boyd. She is survived by her sister, Ann Lorraine Green; her niece and name sake, Victoria Louise Gee Napolez and a host of nieces, nephews and beloved members of the community.
Dolores Louise Boyd Turner has been a faithful servant and member of Bethel A.M.E. Church where she was a member of the Steward Board. Through her good works she touched the lives of hundreds of students and members of the community of her beloved home town.
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