Turner, Barry Proctor
Nov.19, 1937 - Oct.4, 2012
Barry Turner passed away in the Drumheller General Hospital on October 4th after a short illness. Barry was born in Calgary, Alberta on November 19, 1937, to parents John Russell Turner and Kathleen Turner (Proctor). He grew up on a farm near Munson, Alberta, and later in Drumheller, Alberta, where he graduated from Drumheller High School in 1955. He spent some time working in Northern Alberta, and then attended Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, continuing his studies at the University of Montana in Missoula, graduating with a Bachelor of Education in 1963. He taught for a time in Calgary before devoting himself to farming with his father, Russ, on the family farm near Munson. Barry was curious and interested in many things throughout his life, but his passion for sport was ever present. An avid baseball player as a youth, Barry played for a team from Munson in and around the Drumheller region for many years. He was a diehard Calgary Stampeders fan, savoring their halcyon days from the mid 1960s to their Grey Cup triumph in Vancouver in 1971, which he attended. He loyally suffered through the dark years that followed with the dominance by those “Eskimos” to the North. His real passion, however, was hockey. He started to play as a young boy, playing on many competitive level teams in the Drumheller area, including being a member of a senior team sponsored by a local coal company, the Drumheller Monarchs. While at university, both at Bozeman and Missoula, he played on collegiate teams there. And once playing for Bozeman, he teamed up alongside a future cultural icon of the 1970s, the motorcycle daredevil Bob ‘Evel’ Knieval. Barry remembered him as someone who seemed always to get into some ‘trouble’, being ‘evel’ after all, but also as a pretty good hockey player. Like many in Southern Alberta, Barry was an avid supporter of the Calgary Flames, and also loved to follow the world junior hockey championships during the holiday season, especially focusing on the progress of the Canadian junior side. But he reserved a special place for teams coming from Drumheller; the Miners, Allan Cup winners in 1966, and later the Drumheller Falcons, a Junior A team playing in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He often reminisced about former Miners, such as Ron ‘Squeak’ Leopold and his puck wizardry, the skill and mayhem of Tony Kollman and the intimidating look of rearguard Ray Sawka. He took a more active role with the Falcons, involved in the operation of the club and often traveling around the province with them in support, even during their more difficult last years. Yet Barry was interested in many things, not just sport. He was a keen follower of politics and economics, and was a lifelong investor. Perhaps because of his studies in the United States, he was attentive observer of political happenings south of the border. Many will remember Barry’s spirited defense of one political position or another during kitchen table debates on Canadian politics and government.
Barry was sensitive to those around him, was always ready to help others and was a patient listener. His unassuming manner and quiet wisdom gave him the ability to provide balanced, thoughtful and non-judgemental advice to anyone who asked. He loved to reminisce about the past, but the retelling of these oft repeated stories often masked subtle lessons to be learned or different perspectives not always considered. His usually hilarious recollections of the past were rooted in his experience but spoke of someone who ultimately saw beauty in life and hope in the future. Barry leaves behind his sister, Shirley-Anne Thomson of Victoria, B.C., niece Mari-Lynn Thomson of Brooks, Alberta, and nephews John Thomson and his wife Keiko and daughter Maya of Vancouver, British Columbia and Colin Thomson, who lives in Montreal, Quebec. Barry has many Turner cousins in the Drumheller area, along with the Calverts from Edmonton, and Murrays living in Edmonton and on the West Coast. Barry’s family members would like to invite all people who knew him to attend his public memorial, celebrating his life at the Badlands Community Facility on Friday October 12, 2012 from 3-6 pm. 41c