Waterloo,
Iowa
is my hometown. Its famous for John Deere, Rath Packing Company, and the five Sullivan brothers whose
ship went down during World War II. All five were lost.
After high school, I went to Lindenwood
College
in St. Charles,
Missouri
for one year; back to Iowa
for Gates Business
College;
then to California
to live with my mother and step-father. I worked on Spring Street, LA’s wall street and spent the second World War years at North
American Aviation and volunteered at the Hollywood Canteen. I married shortly
after the war. We have two daughters - Ann, who is now a nurse in the neonatal
until at AV Hospital; and Marlene, a teacher in Lancaster.
I have 7 grandchildren and four greats.
In 1973 I met Eugene Turner at a dance in
Redondo Beach.
We were married in Las Vegas
on the way to Washington,
D.C.
where Gene worked for the Federal Aviation Administration. Shortly after our
arrival we were robbed at gunpoint outside a grocery store. We were able to
identify our assailant in a police station lineup. We spent the remainder of
our D.C. 10 month stay seeing the Capital City.
It was wonderful except for the robbery and trial. We had 2 detectives with us
throughout the trial and out of the city on our way to Burlington, Mass.;
Gene’s next assignment. We lived in Chelmsford, Mass. for
four years and I worked for the Air Route Traffic Control Center,
Medical Division in Nashua,
New Hampshire.
I loved the New England
beauty - it was gorgeous - especially after a fresh snow.
We moved to Arlington, Texas in
1978. I transferred to the FAA, Fort Worth
and retired from there in 1986. Gene retired from Aerospatial
Helicopter in 1987. We lived on a small airport for 10 years along with five
pets - 2 dogs, 2 cats, and Gene’s airplane - A Turner T-40. We moved to California City
in August of 2004 to be near family.