Dale Turner

The Reverend Dr. Dale Turner (1917-2006) began his career as a minister in Michigan in 1943. He had first stepped inside a church at age 18. Since his parents were of different faith backgrounds–Catholic and Protestant–they had chosen not to attend church. Dr. Turner attended West Virginia Wesleyan, a Methodist College, because of its athletic program. He intended to become a high school football coach, but he was offered two graduate school scholarships, one for physical education at Columbia University and one for ministry at Yale Divinity School. The ministry won out, and his decision would affect the lives of thousands over the next six decades. Dr. Turner spent ten years in Lawrence, KS, teaching at the University of Kansas and preaching at the Plymouth Congregational Church. He moved to Seattle in 1958 to lead the University Congregational Church. As a minister and activist, he spoke out against the war in Vietnam during the 1960s, vocally supported the rights of gays and lesbians, and was instrumental in forming the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He retired in 1982, then wrote a weekly column for the Religion page of the Seattle Times until the autumn of 2004. His final book, Imperfect Alternatives: Spiritual Insights for Confronting the Controversial and the Personal, was published in 2005. Dr. Turner passed away June 5, 2006. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Leone, as well as three sons, three daughters-in-law, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. One of his sons preceded him in death.