Mary Ann Turner

Mary Ann Turner died on Thursday, June 12, 2025 at Bowers Hospice House in Beckley, West

Virginia. Her grace and elegance were second only to her incredible strength and determination.

Born in Beckley on January 5, 1928 Mary Ann was the second child of Lorin Thomas and Sarah

Ann Browning Putman. Her father was a mining engineer who graduated from the Missouri

School of Mines and was the President of Raleigh-Wyoming Coal Company-Old Ben Coal

Company. Her mother attended college in southern Illinois. Mary Ann’s sister, Sarah Jane

Putman Hinds married and moved to South Bend, Indiana where she and her husband Charles

Clifton Hinds raised their family.

Mary Ann was graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1945 and attended Lindenwood

College in St. Charles, Missouri. She transferred to West Virginia University so as not to have

to travel to school by train and continued as an English and Education major and president of

Delta Gamma sorority. It was while attending WVU that she met the love of her life, Bill Turner.

Following graduation from WVU, Mary Ann returned to Beckley where she and Bill would

marry. While on their honeymoon Bill received his draft notification. Mary Ann resided in

Beckley and Columbus, Georgia during Bill’s military service. After serving in Germany, Bill

and Mary Ann returned to Beckley where they settled to raise their family.

Mary Ann grew up and was married in the First Christian Church where she remained a member.

She served as a deacon and a circle member, and she and Bill raised their children there. Mary

Ann was a member of the Beckley Junior Woman’s Club and Beckley Art Group and was a

member of the Phymosia Garden Club where she had served as president. She was a member of

Black Knight Country Club and Glade Springs and was an avid golfer.

Mary Ann had a passion for art and painted with friends throughout her life. Her passion for art

and her eye for beauty produced paintings that friends and family enjoy in their homes and

businesses. Mary Ann is survived by her three children, all of whom still live in Beckley.

Her family includes her daughter Carol Ann Cooper and her husband Conrad; their children

Conrad Turner Cooper and his wife Aurélie and their children Riley, Kyla, Addison, and Turner

of Tampa, Florida and Christopher Cooper of Tampa, Florida; her son William Lorin Turner and

his wife Cindy; their children Dr. Jennifer Turner and her husband Dr. Lewis Akers of

Morgantown, WV and William Lorin II of Beckley; and her son Charles Garland Turner and his

wife Carolyn; their children Charles Daniel Turner and his wife Ashley and their son Tripp of

Beckley and Brooke Meadows and her husband Dr. Lanny Meadows and their children Lily,

Lucy, and Ben of Beckley.

A heartfelt thank you to her caregivers Libby, Mary, Rose, Shanae, Amanda, Jennifer, Starla,

Evelyn, Linda, and Barbara for their love, kindness and never-ending devotion. Additionally, a

special thanks to the staff at The Villages at Greystone who have made her comfortable and

secure for 10 years.

A celebration of life will be Saturday, June 21, 2025. Friends are invited to join the family from

1:00 to 3:00 PM at Historic Black Knight with a service at 1:30 PM.

Donations of celebration honoring Mary Ann’s life and supporting the community may be made

to Beckley Area Foundation.