Gerald Wayne Turner

Obituary Gerald Wayne Turner, a resident of Rockledge, Florida for over 50 years died at age 79 on July 9, 2021. He is survived by his wife Lynn Hailey Turner, his children Rhonda Turner Evans, (Albert L. Evans, Jr), Gerald Wayne Turner, Jr, (Barbie Turner), Bobby Cox, and Maggie Wieckoski Roe, (Jim Roe) Other survivors include 9 grand children, 8 great grandchildren, his sister Deborah Pekks, brother-in-law Steve Purvis, and many nieces and nephews. Gerald was born in Montgomery, Alabama, but was raised with his 6 brothers and sisters in Venice, Florida. He joined the United States Air Force in 1964, serving for 4 years, spending one year in Italy and three years in Germany. After leaving the service, he was offered what he considered a dream job, a position at Kennedy Space Center in 1968. He was an engineer specializing in Radio Frequency Interference and Electro-Magnetic Compatibility. Some of his endeavors there included supporting the Apollo program and space shuttle missions and collaborating on a team who created lightning detection systems. Gerald retired from Boeing in 2008, after 40 years at KSC. Gerald had a hand in constructing the Rockledge Miss Softball fields and also served as a coach and umpire for over 15 years. He has also served as a Kiwanis member for 25+years, and was the treasurer for a long time. He spent many long hours slaving over a hot grill at City and Little League picnics. He once estimated that he had cooked more than 25,000 hotdogs and hamburgers. He loved to fish for shellcrackers, blue gills, redfish, and stumpknockers at Lake Panasofkee where he spent time every year for vacation and mini family reunions. He loved to hate his boat and would say that “a boat is just a hole in the ocean that you pour money into.” He learned to cook in his 40s and enjoyed putting together a recipe and watching YOU enjoy it. To anyone who would listen, he would then give full instruction on how you could make that recipe for yourself. Gerald loved to keep current on the news, study the weather, tinker out in his garage fixing things and complete crossword and sudoku puzzles. College football was his favorite sport to watch on TV and the University of Alabama was his favorite team. Roll Tide! He also followed FSU and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had no use for the Florida Gators. Gerald was best known for his dry sense of humor. He was a loving husband and father, uncle, and grandfather. We are all blessed to have had him in our lives and he will be truly missed. A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 P.M., Thursday July 15, 2021 in the Beckman Williamson Funeral Home, 5400 Village Drive, Viera, Florida 32955. Family will receive friends from 1PM till service time at the funeral home.