Los Angeles
County
Biographies
MAYNARD TURNER
Mr.
Maynard Turner, General Manager of Turner & Stevens in Alhambra, is not
only a successful businessman but also an enthusiastic civic leader, who has
constantly given of his time and ability for the good of the community, and the
organization which he heads, is always interested, helpful and active in
community projects. Mr. Turner is giving
freely of his time, energy and means to the good cause of Boy Scout work. In 1955 he received the highest honor a
layman can receive from National Boy Scouts, the coveted Silver Beaver Award
for distinguished service to boyhood.
Mr.
Turner was born on August 9, 1899 in Pasadena, California to Mr. Lewis H. and
Mrs. Victoria Louise Turner. The senior
Mr. Turner, an outstanding resident of Pasadena, has always set a shining
example for his sons to follow. He was
President of the Board of Trade, which later became the Chamber of Commerce,
and President and life member of the Tournament of Roses. During Mr. Lewis H. Turner’s administration
the first football game was played in 1916 in the bowl-shaped football field,
which a reporter called the Rose Bowl.
Right here was the beginning of the New Year’s Football Game at the Rose
Bowl in Pasadena.
Mr.
Lewis H. Turner, father of Mr. Maynard Turner, has been a member of the Masonic
Lodge and Order of Elks for fifty years, and was awarded 50 year pins. He has been a Rotarian for thirty-five years,
and a member of the Pasadena Presbyterian Church for fifty years.
The
Turner family was instrumental in the start of the Pasadena Playhouse, and Mr.
Max H. Turner, son of Lewis H. Turner, was on the board for twelve years and
served three terms as president. Max H.
Turner followed his father as President of the Tournament of Roses, which was
the first time in the history of this Association that a son followed his
father in the presidency.
In
business also, the Turner and Stevens families have been working closely
together. The Turner & Stevens organization
is one of the few of its kind in this area, which has been managed by father
and son. The son, Maynard Turner,
received his elementary education in Pasadena and after his graduation from
Pasadena High School in 1917, attended Oregon State College and received the
degree of Bachelor of Arts in business administration in 1921. He served in the First World War.
Mr.
Maynard Turner married Janet G. Goodyear.
They have two married sons, who received their elementary education in
San Marino schools. Dr. John Dean Turner
is an outstanding accredited Cardiologist, who is an assistant to Dr. Paul
Dudley White, President Eisenhower’s former physician. Jerrold C. Turner has his Masters Degree in
Engineering, and is a consultant structural engineer in San Francisco. The Jerrold C. Turner’s have one son, James
Alan Turner, the first grandchild.
Mr.
Maynard Turner is the general manager of Turner & Stevens, Alhambra. The parent organization of Turner &
Stevens Company, of which Maynard Turner is the Secretary-Treasurer, was
founded in Pasadena in 1895, over 65 years ago, by his father, Mr. Lewis H.
Turner and Mr. Stevens, Sr., who were in partnership for fifty years. In 1913 Turner & Stevens opened a mortuary
in Alhambra, one block away from their present location. Mr. Maynard Turner is vice-president of Live
Oak Memorial Park in Monrovia, a sixty-five acre memorial park, which has been
in operation since 1887, and was purchased twenty years ago.
In
1941 Turner & Stevens built a modern mortuary at 550 East Main Street in
Alhambra, which was opened in 1942. It
is called “The Little Stone Church”, of Turner & Stevens Company. This modern funeral home is not only designed
to meet all requirements with up-to-date facilities, but has become an
outstanding architectural landmark in Alhambra.
In
connection with his business, Mr. Maynard Turner is a member of the California
Funeral Directors Association and was president in 1942. During Governor Earl Warren’s administration,
Mr. Turner was appointed to the State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers,
which office he held for five years, from 1943 to 1948, and served as
president.
He
was Chairman of the Alhambra Community Chest Campaign in 1943, and headed the
United States Treasury Bond Drive. He is
Charter Director of the United Fund of Alhambra, holding the office of Director
in the years 1957, 1958, and 1960, and serving as Vice-President in 1959. He is also a Charter Director of the Downtown
Business Improvement Association. He has
been on the Board of Directors of the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce for five
years, serving as Vice-President for one year and as Treasurer for three
years. He has served as a member of the
Advisory Board of the First Western Bank for five years, and is presently
Vice-Chairman.
Mr.
Turner is a charter member of the San Marino Community Presbyterian Church,
which the Turner’s have attended for nineteen years. Mr. Turner’s fraternal affiliation
are with the San Marino Masonic Lodge No. 685, F. & A. M., and the
Order of the Eastern Star, San Marino Chapter No. 554. He is a charter member of both
organizations. He is a life member of
Sigma Alpha Epsilon national fraternity.
Active as a member of the Alhambra Rotary Club, he served as president
in 1958-59, and has a nineteen years perfect attendance record.
For
diversion Mr. Turner enjoys rifle and pistol shooting on teams, and has about
100 trophies to prove it. He was a
member of the State Championship Rifle and Pistol Team, representing Pasadena
American Legion Post No. 13. For ten
years he was a member of the National Marksmanship Committee of the American
Legion.
His
great interest, awakened by his son’s interest in scouting lies in Boy Scout
work. John Turner became an Eagle Scout
and Jerrold a Life Scout. For twelve
years Mr. Maynard Turner has been a member of the fifty-five member Board of
Directors of the San Gabriel Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The current registration in the San Gabriel
Valley Council lists 17,600 Boy Scouts as members.
Mr.
Turner is a charter member of the University Club of Pasadena and a member of
the San Gabriel Country Club, where he enjoys playing golf.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 516-519, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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