David Alan Turner, 68, of Hatfield, MA passed away at home on December 25, 2020 after battling cancer. He died peacefully, surrounded by his wife and friends. He was born on July 12, 1952 in Orlando, FL to the late Harold Ashley Turner and Dorothy Adelita (Randall) Turner. He has been happily married to Pamela Joan Raymond since May 9, 1987. They met in 1974 and went on their first date to the Franklin County Fair, a second anniversary that they have celebrated every year by going to the fair.
David spent his early years in Florida, a place he loved, before moving to Greenfield, MA in 1967. He is a 1970 graduate of Greenfield High School’s Vocational Program for House Carpentry. He joined the Navy in 1970 and was discharged in 1974 as a ship fitter. Afterwards, he studied Residential Design at Mid Florida Tech before moving back to Western Mass and working in construction and as a roofer. He joined Franklin Medical Center in 1984 where he worked in maintenance and later as a Project Technician until 1998.
After leaving the hospital, David has spent his days on his homesteading farm in Hatfield. He and his wife built the original house themselves in 1983, with an addition they added in 1990. He was adding a second ground floor addition for aging in place when his cancer was diagnosed. With help from friends and contractors, this addition is now being completed.
His passion in life was deep-sea fishing on Jeffreys Ledge with his buddies at Eastman’s in Seabrook, NH, where he tried to go at least once a month. He was known as “Dropped It” because he so frequently lost his catch before he got it in the boat. When he wasn’t doing farm chores or fishing he was making deep-sea fishing rods for his business, Turner’s Custom Rods, something he found very relaxing. To read Eastman’s obituary for Dave go to http://www.eastmansdocks.com/fishing-reports and scroll down to December 26, 2020. You can also go to https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=32544.0 to see David’s friend John Taylor’s post about David.
One of David’s favorite past-times was watching nature as it appeared on the farm. Many times he would come back into the house after his morning or evening chores to tell Pam of some wondrous animal or bird that he had just seen so that she could rush out and take a picture of it. Pictures were taken of deer that had just given birth, bears walking across the lawn, mother turkeys with large broods of chicks, the first blue birds of spring, or a ground hog eating grass in the pasture.
Other favorite things were reading mysteries, communing with his cat, and his cows. He loved his cows. He enjoyed walking them from one pasture to another, learning their personalities, and watching out for the calves that were born on the farm.
David will be missed by his old cat, Bryde. Bryde would sleep with David every night. She even had a stairway so she could walkup into bed every night.
David is preceded in death by his father Harold, his sister Jeanne and his brother Robin. He is survived by his wife Pam of Hatfield, his son Leland Alan Turner, his mother Dorothy of Amherst, his brother Scott of South Deerfield, two nephews Damian and Kyle Turner, Uncle Robert and Aunt Nancy Turner of Erving, Rudy and cousin Margo (Burnham) Reinham of Austria, cousin Dale and his wife Brenda Burnham of South Carolina, cousin Joanne (Turner) Woodcock of Orange, and many other cousins, nieces, and nephews.
David will be remembered for his sense of humor and his willingness to always be there to help anyone who needed it. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.
The family would like to thank hospice for their help during David’s last days. A special thanks to Tom and Kelly Silliman, their daughter Arissa, and other family members for the long nights spent with David and all the things they did to help carry Pam through this time.
Special thanks also to the following friends and workers who made it possible for Pam to be with David and reduced the day to day worries. John Taylor called Dave every day just to talk. Carol Wasserloos drove Pam to and from the hospital, fed the cats, and did grocery shopping. Jeannie Barr drove Pam to and from the hospital and took Pam shopping. Stan Pollack and his wife Joanna Varadi drove Pam to the hospital. Joanne Woodcock helped with local shopping as well as shopping research for items not locally available. Johanna Halbeisen and Maria Malaguti posted on local forums to find help for Pam, to find funding for medical care, and other very necessary requests for assistance. Rachel Rudman cooked for Pam and made sure she ate and for staying the night to help with David. Tony Martinez was Pam’s right hand handyman when it came to working on the construction of the house after David took ill. Zack Kundel was Pam’s jack of all trades when it came to help inside and outside of the house. Also to Mike Waldrip for all the support and cabinet work he has done. And thank you to all the other contractors and workers who have gone above and beyond to get the house ready for Dave to come home.
Williamsburg Funeral Home was entrusted with his cremation www.HampshireCremation.com There will be no funeral. David will be cremated, with his ashes spread over Jeffreys Ledge in the Atlantic. A celebration of David’s life will be held in the spring on the farm.