James Edward Turner was born on March 25, 1950 to Jim and Gloria Turner in Seattle, Washington.  He was the oldest of four siblings.  His family spent many treasured days on Pebble Beach in Suquamish, Washington.  Jim attended La Serna High School in California and went on to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a full ride to play football and major in Mechanical Engineering. He was the only person at the time to play football and graduate with a Mechanical Engineering Degree.

He then continued his love of football by playing a year of semi-pro ball in Washington. After a few starter jobs in his field he accepted a position on the North Slope with SOHIO. From there he was secunded to BP and began a career overseas as a project manager developing offshore oil rigs in such places as Louisiana, Scotland, Norway, and California.  

He met his wife, June Jaeger in Bellingham while coaching her adult league softball team.  With many friends in common they finally agreed to go out.  On their first date Jim made cornish game hens and fell asleep on the couch while watching tv together.  Jim went to Scotland for work and continued his relationship through letters with June. June was a P.E. teacher for the Bellingham School District at the time.  While there, he realized he wanted June to be with him.  He proposed over the phone and shortly after June arrived in Scotland they were married with Jim in the Turner kilt.

They returned to the U.S. to buy their first home in Hayward, California where their daughter Carly was born and adopted their first of many golden retrievers, Beau. They returned back to Bellingham to the Willowbrook house which Jim had built while he was still a bachelor. While there he was rotating to the North Slope. They then decided to buy a new house in Ferndale which would end up being their family home for the next 25 years.

After purchasing their new family home Jim was again secunded by BP to work on a project in Norway.  In 1987 they left for Norway, June was seven months pregnant with their second child, Garrett. While there, he worked on the Gyda Offshore Platform. This project like the Magnus in Scotland, were both groundbreaking for their time. After staying in Norway for a couple of years they came back to Washington to settle in Ferndale. He decided he did not want to be away from his family working so he left BP and joined Anvil Corporation in Bellingham. During his 25 years with Anvil he worked his way up the ranks to end his career as a Senior Vice President. He truly loved his job and the people he was lucky enough to work with. He served on the board of directors for United Way and was heavily involved with the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement organization and Canine Companions for Independence.  Many a day you would see a tail sticking out from under his desk at Anvil.

During his time in Ferndale he coached both Carly and Garrett in soccer and basketball from the Red Lions program all the way through to Ferndale High School. He truly loved coaching and being with his kids. He initiated the girls AAU program from the ground up; dedicating hours and hours to practice and games. You could find him in his office in the early morning hours creating the perfect practice plan detailed out to the minute. Did we mention he was an engineer? He wouldn’t have had it any other way. He also spent multiple days a week playing basketball with the “Old Nooners” at the Bellingham Boys and Girls Club.  

His second love after his family was fishing.  Garrett and Jim went up to Critter Cove in Nookta Sound and Winter Harbor from the time when Garrett was five years old.  He loved everything about those fishing trips down to the snacks they packed.  Did we mention he was a control maniac.  Jim had an amazing group of loyal friends that not only fished and played basketball together but also went up to Bridge Lake to a cabin each year. After each trip and their tests of manhood Jim would gather all of their sweatshirts and create patches which were then presented over beer at their post trip break-down meetings. He looked forward to every aspect of these trips.  He was lucky enough to attend all three during his last year of life.  He even caught the largest fish on his boat, The Only One, this past fishing trip and was sure to claim the victory.

Jim was diagnosed with prostate cancer at 49 and fought the hardest of fights with the help of his family and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.  You would never know he was battling this disease because of his sheer will and determination to move forward in a positive way. Many a day he was in treatments and  continued to go to work and coach every day.  

June and Jim decided to buy raw land in Bow, Washington to build their dream house in 2013. He not only got to enjoy his new home but the birth of his first grandchild, Bria. This past year has been a battle but one spent surrounded with family and an immense amount of love. Jim passed away peacefully surrounded by family in his bedroom on Saturday, September 24, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, June, his children Carly and Garrett and their spouses Todd and Nadia, his grandchild Bria, and his three siblings Tom, Kim, and Paul.  He was a special person that touches this world once in a lifetime.  He will be missed greatly by everyone that knew him.