Wilber Wesley Turner

Wilber Wesley Turner, 81, passed away on June 23, 2025, at his home outside of Peculiar, Missouri. A celebration of Wil’s life will be held on Friday, August 1, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at Christ Church Anglican, 5500 W 91st Street in Overland Park, Kansas. Born in Ponca City, Oklahoma, on October 13, 1943, to Raymond and Zula Mae Turner, Wil spent his childhood and teen years in Oklahoma and Kansas, including high school in Greensburg, Kansas. At age fifteen, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He graduated from Mullinville Rural High School in Mullinville, Kansas, in 1961. Wil graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1965 with a political science degree. During his time in Stillwater, he met and dated Ann Adcock. They were married on August 22, 1964. Wil worked for Travelers Insurance Company from 1967-1990. Starting in Denver, he was later transferred to Oklahoma City and then Kansas City. Wil was named Manager of the Year shortly before leaving Travelers in 1990 to purchase his own insurance agency. He operated Turner Insurance Associates in Grandview and Belton, Missouri, for 24 years before selling the company in 2014. He continued serving his clients under the new ownership until his retirement in summer 2024. He served a few of those years on the board of the Missouri State Insurance Association. Throughout his career, Wil highly valued customer care and uncompromising business ethics. Wil and Ann enjoyed spending much of their free time together, square dancing in their early years of marriage and later traveling to craft shows to sell Ann’s handmade products and visiting auctions and estate sales. Family was a priority for Wil. He was an avid supporter of his kids’ and later his grandkids’ activities and he seldom missed an opportunity to share details about their accomplishments. He kept in close touch with his siblings and faithfully attended family reunions. A life-long learner, Wil read around fifty books a year, split evenly between fiction and non- fiction. He was inspired by others’ interests, often diving in to research the topics himself. He also enjoyed tending their property, propagating plants in his green house and planting both ornamental and food-producing gardens. Wil was also a community builder, participating in service organizations and looking for opportunities to share his abundance of garden plants and produce with others. He kept in close touch with a number of lifelong friends. Wil is survived by his wife of sixty years, Ann, his daughter Tisha Gillespie (Kyle), son Tracy (Missi) and five grandchildren: Alison, Cameron, Quincey, Gentry and Wesley. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to Reconnect Resources: www.reconnectresources.com/give

Wilber Wesley Turner

October 13, 1943 - June 23, 2025