Alvin Turner

Alvin "Al" F. Turner, 88, of Cape Girardeau, son of Elmer and Sylvia Puhse Turner, passed away as a result of COVID-19 on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, at the Lutheran Home.

He was born Sept. 5, 1932, in Granite City, Illinois. He and Mary Janet Grebing were married April 21, 1957, at Trinity Lutheran Church. They were married 63 years at the time of his death.

Al was a graduate of Granite City High School and a graduate of Saint Louis University.

He served in the U.S. Army as a Signal Corp. instructor for two years.

He worked at McDonald Douglas for several years and then joined the Unidynamics Division of Universal March as a purchasing agent. When this division was closed, he was employed as assistant business manager in the Granite City School District.

At age 40, Al returned to college to get his education requirements to become a teacher. The rest of his working life, he taught heating and air conditioning, and also participated in the co-op program, placing students in the community to work half days in various jobs. He retired in 1991.

The 18 years living at the Lake of the Ozarks were the happiest time in his life. His hobbies were boating, fishing, trap shooting, woodworking, traveling and canoeing.

He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, American Legion Post No. 63 and American Rifleman.

Loving survivors are his wife, Mary; daughter, Dr. Kim Turner of Maine; brother-in-law, Walt Grebing (Jan); two nieces, Marci Grebing and Kara Bettis; and great-niece and -nephew, Mia and Nolan Bettis.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Elmer and Sylvia Puhse Turner.

Visitation will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Ford and Sons Funeral Home on Mount Auburn Road, and services will follow at 2 p.m., with Pastor Douglas C. Breite officiating. Burial will follow, with full military honors, at Hanover Lutheran Church Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be given to Trinity Lutheran Church or Juvenile Diabetic Research Foundation (JDRF), 26 Broadway, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10004.

Online condolences may be shared at www.fordandsonsfuneralhome.com.