TURNER, Raymond M., PhD 2/25/1927 - 12/9/2018 Raymond Marriner Turner, an internationally recognized plant ecologist, died in Tucson after a short illness at age 91. He was born in Salt Lake City in 1927 to Margaret Barber and Marriner Turner. Ray's love and respect for nature was first kindled in Utah, where he spent most of his childhood with his sisters, Sally and Cynthia. He attended Utah State University receiving a degree in botany. In 1949, while taking a summer break from graduate school to work for the U.S. Forest Service near Richfield, Utah, he met Jeanne Brunner, the love of his life. The young couple married on December 27, 1949, and returned to Pullman, Washington, where Jeanne continued her career as a nurse, and Ray completed a PhD in botany and soils from Washington State College. With two young children, and one on the way, Ray and Jeanne moved to Tucson in 1954 where Ray joined the faculty at the University of Arizona. He later began work in 1962 for the U.S. Geological Survey as a research botanist, with an office and darkroom at the Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill. Dr. Turner was adjunct and emeritus professor at the University of Arizona until his retirement in 1989. He left a legacy as a mentor to dozens of young scientists whose professional careers he greatly influenced. Upon arriving in the Southwest, he focused on the plant ecology of the region. His life work on saguaro cacti included a nearly half-century long study at Saguaro National Park and plots elsewhere throughout the Sonoran Desert. This work helped unlock many of the mysteries of the saguaro, Arizona's signature plant, including its establishment, growth, and survival. He was the author, co-author, or editor of dozens of books and hundreds of publications, with many completed after retirement. His groundbreaking use of repeat photography to document vegetation change and its causes was published in "The Changing Mile" (1965) in which he was testing and proving many important scientific premises and hypotheses. Other important publications were "Sonoran Desert Plants: An Ecological Atlas" (1995); "The Changing Mile Revisited" (2003); "The Ribbon of Green" (2007); "Requiem for the Santa Cruz" (2014); and "Kenya's Changing Landscape" (1998), co-authored with his wife, Jeanne. Although he never learned to swim, Ray rafted the Colorado River through the Marble and Grand Canyons more than two dozen times to match 100-year-old photographs to help document how construction of Glen Canyon Dam changed the density and occurrence of riparian vegetation along the channel banks, including invasive species. On one such trip during the legendary super flood in 1984, he was thrown from his overturned raft in Lava Falls and was thankfully rescued. Ray served on the Board of Trustees for the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and on the Boards of Directors of the Arizona Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Southern Arizona Chapter of the Arizona Historical Society, the Malpai Borderlands Group, and the Animas Foundation. He was also a member of the Tucson Audubon Society, the Saguaro-Juniper Corporation, and served on the Citizens Sign Code Committee for the City of Tucson. In retirement, Ray worked with the Malpai Borderlands Group, a consortium of ranchers, conservationists, government agents and scientists based in southeastern Arizona. The encroachment of brush into the area grasslands, as documented in "The Changing Mile," was one of the overarching concerns of the group. During that period, he also worked with the Animas Foundation, which took over the stewardship of one of the Nature Conservancy's Last Great Places, now the Diamond A Ranch in the bootheel of New Mexico. He helped to establish the science programs for both organizations, enabling the two to implement ecosystem management on now nearly one-million acres of contiguous virtually unfragmented open space lands in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. He and wife, Jeanne were active in the Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood Association and were among those responsible for acquiring and maintaining the historic San Pedro Chapel for neighborhood events, weddings, and La Reunion de El Fuerte. In 2016, the Saguaro National Park awarded Ray its first Lifetime Science Service Award, now named in his honor, in recognition of his long-term monitoring and measurement of saguaro populations and his contribution to the science of desert ecology. Dr. Turner was among the first to document the re-establishment of saguaros in the Park's Cactus Forest. Ray and Jeanne were avid travelers, driving the backroads of northern Mexico, backpacking and hiking the Grand Canyon into their 70's, doing research in Kenya, and visiting colleagues and friends in Paris. They started a 30-year tradition of backpacking with extended family and friends, most frequently into the Rincon Mountains and Gila Wilderness. What stood out were the teaching moments where he shared his boundless curiosity by gathering us around, and telling us about what we were seeing -- the hows, the whys, and wherefores of his understanding and knowing. Ray is preceded in death by his loving wife, Jeanne and is survived by sisters, Sally Blumberg and Cynthia "Cindy" Miller; children, Teresa "Terry" Turner Hadley, Justin Turner (Linda), Martin Turner (Paula) and grandchildren, Seth Turner (Brittany), Leah Drake (Alex), Caitlin Jack (Gordon) and Joseph Turner. He will be deeply missed and remembered not only as a scientific giant who contributed significantly to our understanding of the changing landscapes of the arid lands of the greater Southwest and northern Mexico, but also as a kind, respectful, generous man. A Memorial is planned for a later date when the Blue Palo Verdes begin to bloom. In lieu of flowers, consider sending donations to the Desert Lab on Tumamoc Hill through The University of Arizona Foundation: www.uafoundation.org/NetCommunity/donations/ Tumamoc. Arrangements by ADAIR FUNERAL HOMES, Dodge Chapel.
Published by Arizona Daily Star on Jan. 6, 2019.
TURNER, Raymond M., PhD 2/25/1927 - 12/9/2018 Raymond Marriner Turner, an internationally recognized plant ecologist, died in Tucson after a short illness at age 91. He was born in Salt Lake City in 1927 to Margaret Barber and Marriner Turner. Ray's love and respect for nature was first kindled in Utah, where he spent most of his childhood with his sisters, Sally and Cynthia. He attended Utah State University receiving a degree in botany. In 1949, while taking a summer break from graduate school to work for the U.S. Forest Service near Richfield, Utah, he met Jeanne Brunner, the love of his life. The young couple married on December 27, 1949, and returned to Pullman, Washington, where Jeanne continued her career as a nurse, and Ray completed a PhD in botany and soils from Washington State College. With two young children, and one on the way, Ray and Jeanne moved to Tucson in 1954 where Ray joined the faculty at the University of Arizona. He later began work in 1962 for the U.S. Geological Survey as a research botanist, with an office and darkroom at the Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill. Dr. Turner was adjunct and emeritus professor at the University of Arizona until his retirement in 1989. He left a legacy as a mentor to dozens of young scientists whose professional careers he greatly influenced. Upon arriving in the Southwest, he focused on the plant ecology of the region. His life work on saguaro cacti included a nearly half-century long study at Saguaro National Park and plots elsewhere throughout the Sonoran Desert. This work helped unlock many of the mysteries of the saguaro, Arizona's signature plant, including its establishment, growth, and survival. He was the author, co-author, or editor of dozens of books and hundreds of publications, with many completed after retirement. His groundbreaking use of repeat photography to document vegetation change and its causes was published in "The Changing Mile" (1965) in which he was testing and proving many important scientific premises and hypotheses. Other important publications were "Sonoran Desert Plants: An Ecological Atlas" (1995); "The Changing Mile Revisited" (2003); "The Ribbon of Green" (2007); "Requiem for the Santa Cruz" (2014); and "Kenya's Changing Landscape" (1998), co-authored with his wife, Jeanne. Although he never learned to swim, Ray rafted the Colorado River through the Marble and Grand Canyons more than two dozen times to match 100-year-old photographs to help document how construction of Glen Canyon Dam changed the density and occurrence of riparian vegetation along the channel banks, including invasive species. On one such trip during the legendary super flood in 1984, he was thrown from his overturned raft in Lava Falls and was thankfully rescued. Ray served on the Board of Trustees for the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and on the Boards of Directors of the Arizona Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Southern Arizona Chapter of the Arizona Historical Society, the Malpai Borderlands Group, and the Animas Foundation. He was also a member of the Tucson Audubon Society, the Saguaro-Juniper Corporation, and served on the Citizens Sign Code Committee for the City of Tucson. In retirement, Ray worked with the Malpai Borderlands Group, a consortium of ranchers, conservationists, government agents and scientists based in southeastern Arizona. The encroachment of brush into the area grasslands, as documented in "The Changing Mile," was one of the overarching concerns of the group. During that period, he also worked with the Animas Foundation, which took over the stewardship of one of the Nature Conservancy's Last Great Places, now the Diamond A Ranch in the bootheel of New Mexico. He helped to establish the science programs for both organizations, enabling the two to implement ecosystem management on now nearly one-million acres of contiguous virtually unfragmented open space lands in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. He and wife, Jeanne were active in the Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood Association and were among those responsible for acquiring and maintaining the historic San Pedro Chapel for neighborhood events, weddings, and La Reunion de El Fuerte. In 2016, the Saguaro National Park awarded Ray its first Lifetime Science Service Award, now named in his honor, in recognition of his long-term monitoring and measurement of saguaro populations and his contribution to the science of desert ecology. Dr. Turner was among the first to document the re-establishment of saguaros in the Park's Cactus Forest. Ray and Jeanne were avid travelers, driving the backroads of northern Mexico, backpacking and hiking the Grand Canyon into their 70's, doing research in Kenya, and visiting colleagues and friends in Paris. They started a 30-year tradition of backpacking with extended family and friends, most frequently into the Rincon Mountains and Gila Wilderness. What stood out were the teaching moments where he shared his boundless curiosity by gathering us around, and telling us about what we were seeing -- the hows, the whys, and wherefores of his understanding and knowing. Ray is preceded in death by his loving wife, Jeanne and is survived by sisters, Sally Blumberg and Cynthia "Cindy" Miller; children, Teresa "Terry" Turner Hadley, Justin Turner (Linda), Martin Turner (Paula) and grandchildren, Seth Turner (Brittany), Leah Drake (Alex), Caitlin Jack (Gordon) and Joseph Turner. He will be deeply missed and remembered not only as a scientific giant who contributed significantly to our understanding of the changing landscapes of the arid lands of the greater Southwest and northern Mexico, but also as a kind, respectful, generous man. A Memorial is planned for a later date when the Blue Palo Verdes begin to bloom. In lieu of flowers, consider sending donations to the Desert Lab on Tumamoc Hill through The University of Arizona Foundation: www.uafoundation.org/NetCommunity/donations/ Tumamoc. Arrangements by ADAIR FUNERAL HOMES, Dodge Chapel.
Fulfill Photo Request for Raymond Marriner “Ray” Turner
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.