In Memory of Lois Turner

Lois Turner came into my life like a God-sent angel at a time when I needed an American mom, a friend, and a mentor. Her life was already full of young and old people who listened to her sound and caring advice, but she knew instinctively how much I needed her.

Lois was kind and diplomatic, the quintessential Southern lady, always properly dressed as if going to church, resplendent with her ever-present pearls and earrings that complemented her beautiful blond and always perfectly coiffed hair.

She enchanted me with her stories, her memories, and friendly advice which helped me cope with life in my new country and my new family. Slowly she became my new family, more loving and accepting than any person could imagine or deserved.

Lois was a perfect homemaker who took pride in her two beautiful daughters and her husband, Harold, a WWII veteran of the Battle of the Bulge. His gardening and bird hunting were legendary, and she supported him with the love and care of seven decades of marriage.

Lois’ lovely home was always full of children, her daughters’ friends; they were welcome in her home, fed, and entertained in embracing ways that invited them back over and over. Laughter and joy, games, roller skating, movies, and going to Bible studies and church were particularly important in the Turners’ life.

A pillar of the Okolona community, Lois was an accomplished cook, florist, home decorator, nurse, mom, and wife. She always took care of someone else’s needs first and, if advice was not sufficient, she rolled up her sleeves to help.

Non-judgmental and fair, Lois imparted her wisdom to those who sought her help. Lois did not need a license to practice nursing and counseling – she was an expert because she had a giving and loving heart and a good listening ear.

Lois was most proud of her two lovely daughters whom she had later in life. She doted on them like they were delicate flowers and made sure they would turn into accomplished young women, which they did.

Her sit-down dinners were legendary, every detail attended to, and the food was delicious. She was famous for her upside-down pineapple cake.

Lois taught me how to survive in a society that was as different from mine as going to the moon. She listened, offered suggestions, recounted her experiences traveling to foreign lands like Portugal, and helped me understand the southern way of thinking and the southern culture.

Lois was my American mom and I always felt like I was coming home every time I drove to her home in Okolona. She welcomed me, and eventually my daughters, with open arms.

She nursed my wounds through a painful divorce and, when I remarried years later, welcomed my new husband into her home.

Lois always teased her husband who regaled us with his stories from WWII. Harold became a person we admired for his sacrifice to our country, for his kindness to total strangers he met during the war, strangers whom he fed in his military kitchen.

Lois had a unique talent to make her house a Home and Garden paradise in which friends and acquaintances were welcomed and fed. The only requirement was that they felt comfortable and at home.

Lois left this life on July 11, a few days after she celebrated 72 years of marriage to Harold on June 30. She has become truly the angel that she always was. She is probably teaching other angels in Heaven how to be better role models and more human just like she was with people who surrounded her because she was LOVE and GIVING, a perfect mom, wife, friend, and neighbor.