Bert S. Turner

07/17/2008

Sue and Bert Turner with Judy and Judge Frank Foil at 150th Anniversary of ZZ Chapter of DKE May 17, 2008, at the Baton Rouge Capitol Hilton
(Please note that Bro. Turner is wearing both his Friar’s and DKE pin on his lapel)

Zeta Zeta Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon was deeply saddened by the loss of one of their most loyal members on Thursday, July 17, 2008. Brother Bert Silger Turner, a well known Baton Rouge businessman died peacefully at his home. Turner was born in Elizabeth, Allen Parish, Louisiana on November 2, 1921. He grew up in rural Missouri, but returned to Louisiana to attend LSU on scholarship with the marching band. His name was added to the rolls of the Halls of Zeta Zeta with his initiation on May 16, 1941. Turner served as cadet colonel of the Engineers Regiment at LSU and earned his degree in mechanical engineering in 1943. He served as president of the College of Engineering Student Council and was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa honorary scholastic fraternity. Brother Turner served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during WW II, mostly in Southeast Asia, building roads and repairing airstrips. Upon returning from the war he worked for Standard Oil and continued his education with the help of the GI Bill along with the Standard Oil Teagle scholarship. Turner graduated with distinction from the Harvard School of Business Administration in 1949. His career in the construction industry began with Nichols Construction Co. of Baton Rouge, of which he eventually became president. This company evolved into Turner Industries, Ltd. in 1982 and became one of the largest privately held companies in the area with more than 15,000 employees globally and was one of nine local firms on Inc. magazine’s list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies with an estimated annual revenue of $1.4 billion. Turner’s impressive business career was equally matched by his long record of community service. As a young man he was president of the Baton Rouge Jaycees, president of the Board of Control of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library and chairman of the Civic Improvement Committee of the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce. He was one of the initiators of fund development for Magnolia Mound Plantation and the Louisian Arts and Science Center. Brother Turner was committed to improving higher education in Louisiana and served on the Louisiana Board of Regents and as chairman of both the LSU Board of Supervisors and the LSU Foundation Board. In 1996, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of science from LSU. He was named by Louisiana Public Broadcasting as a “Louisiana Legend” in 2002. Turner and his wife of sixty years, the former Suzanne Pauline Wilbert, of Plaquemine, Louisiana, were honored in 2003, with the Capital Area United Way’s Alexis de Tocqueville Society Award. On Friday, May 13, 2008, Zeta Zeta of DKE kicked off it’s 150th Anniversary Celebration in the Bert S. Turner Family Atrium of the Louisiana Arts and Sciences Museum, named in honor of the Turner Family’s contributions to the LASM. Zeta Zeta was honored to have Brother Turner serve as honorary co-chairman of our sequicentennial event along with Brother Frank Purvis.

Visitation for Brother Turner was held at St. Aloysius Parish Hall on Sunday, July 20th, from 2 p.m to 4:30 p.m. and Monday from 9 a.m. until Mass of Christian Burial at 11:30 , with the Rev. Jeff Bayhi, celebrant, followed by burial in Roselawn Memorial Park, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Turner is survived by his wife, Suzanne and their five children and their spouses and partners, and six grandchildren. He will be greatly missed by all who had the honor of knowing him.