Mary Evans Turner, of Grand Prairie, passed away peacefully at home on July 13, 2014, at the age of 88. She was born in Ballinger, TX to Henry Elbert Evans and Hettie M. Vincent on April 22, 1926.
She grew up on a ranch near the small town of Talpa in West Texas and enjoyed a childhood full of tending livestock, swimming in the creek, and working in her father's bank. Being so far out of town Mary would have to ride a horse to school. She graduated from Talpa High School. As a young lady she kept herself busy as a college life guard and a semiprofessional model. When a young teacher named Amos Turner joined the faculty at the local school, she found her soul mate, and together they began a partnership on March 8, 1945 that endured for their entire lives. Following the war and a stop in Jacksboro form 1945 to 1953, they moved to Grand Prairie and raised their family, while Amos served as a teacher, coach, and administrator in the GPISD. In 1999, the GPHS gymnasium was renamed in his honor, but he made it clear to all that his efforts would not have been possible without Mary. She was known by most of Amos's athletes as "Mrs. Coach Turner" because she never missed a game.
After their children were grown, she enjoyed a second career as a bookkeeper at B&M Electrical Supply in Grand Prairie. She had a lifelong love of the outdoors and was an avid bridge player and talented cook. No compliment could truly explain how amazing her cooking tasted. She even mastered her mother-in-law's Chess Pie. But, her true calling was as a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, aunt (to over 30 nieces and nephews), and surrogate mother to the scores of GPHS basketball players coached by her husband. Mary was a quiet woman with a wonderful sense of humor. She was a member of the "Women's Club of Grand Prairie" and First United Methodist Church of Grand Prairie where she has her own pew. Mary was very socially active and an avid traveler, she took many trips with Amos to military reunions and family reunions.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Amos Turner; her parents, Henry Elbert and Hettie Vincent Evans; and her siblings, Everett Evans, Lucile Evans Edens, and Elizabeth Evans Barnes.
Mary Evans Turner, of Grand Prairie, passed away peacefully at home on July 13, 2014, at the age of 88. She was born in Ballinger, TX to Henry Elbert Evans and Hettie M. Vincent on April 22, 1926.
She grew up on a ranch near the small town of Talpa in West Texas and enjoyed a childhood full of tending livestock, swimming in the creek, and working in her father's bank. Being so far out of town Mary would have to ride a horse to school. She graduated from Talpa High School. As a young lady she kept herself busy as a college life guard and a semiprofessional model. When a young teacher named Amos Turner joined the faculty at the local school, she found her soul mate, and together they began a partnership on March 8, 1945 that endured for their entire lives. Following the war and a stop in Jacksboro form 1945 to 1953, they moved to Grand Prairie and raised their family, while Amos served as a teacher, coach, and administrator in the GPISD. In 1999, the GPHS gymnasium was renamed in his honor, but he made it clear to all that his efforts would not have been possible without Mary. She was known by most of Amos's athletes as "Mrs. Coach Turner" because she never missed a game.
After their children were grown, she enjoyed a second career as a bookkeeper at B&M Electrical Supply in Grand Prairie. She had a lifelong love of the outdoors and was an avid bridge player and talented cook. No compliment could truly explain how amazing her cooking tasted. She even mastered her mother-in-law's Chess Pie. But, her true calling was as a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, aunt (to over 30 nieces and nephews), and surrogate mother to the scores of GPHS basketball players coached by her husband. Mary was a quiet woman with a wonderful sense of humor. She was a member of the "Women's Club of Grand Prairie" and First United Methodist Church of Grand Prairie where she has her own pew. Mary was very socially active and an avid traveler, she took many trips with Amos to military reunions and family reunions.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Amos Turner; her parents, Henry Elbert and Hettie Vincent Evans; and her siblings, Everett Evans, Lucile Evans Edens, and Elizabeth Evans Barnes.
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