Barry Turner’s idea of retiring at 60 is to work part-time now for two funeral homes and still volunteer with the Statesboro Convention and Visitors Bureau.

As Ogeechee Technical College’s vice president for college advancement, Turner was the college’s leading professional booster, unless it was former  OTC President Dawn Cartee, who first promoted him to a vice presidential role, or current OTC President Lori Durden. Turner retired effective June 30 after almost 19 years with the college, where he was first hired to help develop and then direct the first funeral services education program in the Technical College System of Georgia.

“I’ve always done a lot of concurrent things,” Turner said this week. “So, working at the college and at the funeral home all of these years has not been anything out of the ordinary for me.”

Turner graduated from Southeast Bulloch High School on a Thursday night, started work at a local funeral home the following Sunday and then classes at Georgia Southern that Monday, he recalls.

He took Georgia Southern classes for a few quarters, but went to Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service in Atlanta and became a licensed funeral director. Later, while with Ogeechee Tech, he completed a bachelor’s degree in business administration from American Intercontinental University and a master’s in organizational management from Ashford University, both through accredited online programs.

Turner worked full-time a total of 23 years for what was, for a while, Hodges-Turner Funeral Home. He became a part owner until it was sold to a larger company, and then served as location manager. Ogeechee Tech first called on him in fall 2000 to research the creation of a funeral services program. His industry survey and other findings showed demand and support for the program, which was launched with Turner as its clinical director.

By 2007 he was serving as Ogeechee Tech’s director of public relations, and was promoted that year to vice president for community and college relations. In 2011, his title was changed to vice president for college advancement, and his responsibilities expanded to include, in addition to public relations and marketing, the Ogeechee Technical College Foundation Inc., the fundraising entity that helps support the college.

‘On a high note’

Largely through the work of committed volunteers and board members, he said, the foundation has achieved a series of successful annual iGOT, or “I Give to Ogeechee Tech,” drives.  The 2019 drive concluded in March with an announced total of more than $441,000, a new record for cash donations.

“The foundation is in good shape, we’ve had successful campaigns, have had some good increases each year and we had a really good increase this year, and I’ve always been with the people who think that you should maybe go out on a high note,” Turner said.

Although he left Hodges-Turner for OTC, he then went to work in 2001 part-time for another Statesboro funeral home, Joiner-Anderson, and has made arrangements with families, directed funerals and done some embalming all these years on an as-needed basis. Ogeechee Tech is officially open Monday through Thursday, which left him three-day weekends for the funeral profession, although he came to see his OTC public relations role as a “24-seven” responsibility, he said.

Turner had also gone to emergency medical technician school and worked for the county EMS from the late 1970s to early 1990s.  He served 12 years as deputy coroner, and was Bulloch County’s elected coroner for eight years, not seeking re-election after he was hired by Ogeechee Tech.

‘Concurrent things’

So yes, he has done a lot of concurrent things, and that’s so far not listing his volunteer work or the businesses that he and his wife, Marilyn, used to own. They have now sold all of those businesses, which over the years included Sugar Magnolia Bakery & Cafe in Statesboro and three Go Fish Clothing & Jewelry locations.

Also an OTC retiree, Marilyn Turner, RN, was director of the college’s medical assisting program and still teaches some online classes.

Starting about a month ago, Barry Turner is working part-time, also as needed, with Fox & Weeks Funeral Directors in Savannah. Owners of that company, which has several OTC funeral services graduates among its management and staff, called when they heard he was going to retire, he said.

So he plans to split his funeral services work between Fox & Weeks and Joiner-Anderson.

“I’ve never been one to sit home a lot, and I don’t want to give myself a chance to get bored,” Turner said. “So I stay pretty active and pretty busy anyway, so that was a just a just to do something that I like doing that I’ve been doing for over 42 years now, in the funeral profession.”

He has served as board president or chair at various times of the local American Cancer Society and American Heart Association affiliates, the Averitt Center for the Arts and the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority. He was treasurer of the Bulloch County EMS Association, of which he was a founding member. While leading the DSDA board, he also became one of the original Main Street Farmers Market board members.

Turner served on the special events committee for the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce, which in 2016 named him Business Leader of the Year.

Visitors Bureau

Turner chose the Statesboro Convention and Visitors Bureau’s regional visitor center, in the Blue Mile of South Main Street, as the place to talk about his retirement. A member of the SCVB board for many years, he has served as its president two different terms and is now its vice president.

He was one of the leaders in the effort to acquire the former Shoney’s restaurant building, which stood vacant for years, and transform it into the new visitor center. It was also one of the first Blue Mile projects, replacing “a dilapidated eyesore,” with an inviting front porch for visitors and a greeting space that showcases exhibits created by Georgia Southern University Museum staff and students.

“One of my proudest accomplishments since I’ve been with the CVB board was helping to get into this new facility, which has made a world of difference in the activities that we can provide and be involved with, just the convenience for visitors coming to town, and just the accessibility,” Turner said.

Last year, the SCVB bought the old warehouse behind the center. Turner is involved in the planning to turn this property into a covered venue for the Main Street Farmers Market and special events.

“I’ll still be very active, of course, here at the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and still on the board here, and ideally I will have more time to devote to my family and my grandkids and my wife,” Turner said.

Barry and Marilyn Turner have a son, Brooks Turner; a daughter, Whitney Lavoie; and are grandparents to Ansley and Collier.

Michelle E. Davis, most recently executive director in the Vice President’s Office for Enrollment Management at Georgia Southern University, succeeded Turner as Ogeechee Tech’s vice president for college advancement, effective July 1.

“We appreciate Barry’s service to OTC, and we wish him well as he moves into the next chapter of his life,” OTC President Durden said in a press release announcing Davis’ hiring and Turner’s retirement.