Obituary of Ferne S. Turner

Ferne Sullivan Turner died peacefully at home on June 11. She was born on March 8, 1921 in Shreveport LA where she lived until she was 99 years old. At that time, she moved in with her Son and daughter-in-law, Stanton and Sally Turner who live in the Alder Creek area. She quickly made friends throughout the Alder Creek and Benewah Valley areas as well as St. Maries and embraced them with all of the love and grace which she has always been known for. Helping her community was a highlight of her time here and she was a member of the Benewah Home Demonstration Club as well as The Benewah Valley Association. For over 30 years she worked as a school librarian and later as the head of all of the libraries in her school district. Helping young people learn to read and learn to love it was a great joy in her life. She carried on that legacy here encouraging many of her young friends and neighbors. One attribute that stood out to so many was her amazing memory. She never forgot a person’s name. It could have been a year since she had seen them and when she did she would call them by name and immediately engage them in conversation about the things that they had discussed a year ago and would ask all about their lives and interests. Her church family, the congregation of Benewah Community Worship, were very important to her and she loved them all and prayed for them all regularly. She looks forward to seeing them all again one day where we will all worship our Lord together in His presence. We would like to thank Hospice of North Idaho for their amazing love and care for Ferne and her family during this time. We would also like to thank Benewah Community Hospital and St. Maries Family Medicine for all of the wonderful care they have provided over the years. Ferne is survived by her son, daughter-in-law, 1 niece, 2 granddaughters and their husbands and 5 great grandchildren. The Bible tells us the “Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Ferne was overflowing with every one of these and will be greatly missed.