Obituary of Dorothy Ethel Turner

Dorothy “Artist” Turner, 97, passed peacefully on Monday, October 26, 2020. 

Born in Stedman, North Carolina on December 23, 1922, Dorothy was raised in a family of six children, with a traveling pastor father, and a devoted, busy mother.  She finished high school in Erwin, NC, and majored in Art and English at Meredith College, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1944.  She joined the Army Air Force, where she was an Arts and Crafts instructor at the Educational Reconditioning Program in Lexington, NC, and served until 1946.

Dorothy visited Mexico with a friend while in the Air Force, and she was immediately drawn to its rich scenery, vibrant colors, and lively people.  She decided to move to Mexico (knowing no Spanish!) and found employment teaching Art in San Miguel de Allende.  She took easily to learning Spanish and continued her education in Mexico, living and working for many years as an artist, and also teaching Spanish courses at the Instituto Allende.  She also earned an MFA degree in Mexico in 1949.

In January of 1963 she began graduate study in Spanish and Art at the University of Texas at Austin.  She received her PhD for Spanish in 1970.  During those interim years, she taught at the University of Texas, Wells College in Aurora, NY, and the University of N.C. at Ashville, NC.

In 1972, Dorothy settled back in Austin for good, where she bought a home in Tarrytown, and worked as an artist, writer, editor, and translator for the Texas Department of Human Resources.

Although she never married or had children of her own, Dorothy was comfortable being single, and was known to the neighborhood children as the “Artist.”  She preferred pen and ink drawing, using the neighborhood children as models whenever they could sit still.  She continued drawing and garnered several awards in local competitions.  She entertained the neighborhood children with arts and crafts, fishing, fossil hunting, and bike riding.  She enjoyed music and played the recorder; she was part of a Recorder Society, playing in duets or ensembles weekly.  She also took up woodcarving, mosaic tiling, and writing poetry, spending many hours working at those, buying dozens of books that supported each of her endeavors, making friends along the way.  She often went on nature walks through her beloved hill country, and would collect crazy objects that might seem like rubbish to others, which she would craft into works of art.  She taught “her children” to appreciate everything around them, from the mundane to the interesting.  She also had a real love for animals, whether domestic or in the wild, and enjoyed bird watching, as well.

Accomplished and generous, Dorothy was from a large and loving family.  She had several great-nieces and nephews whom she adored.  She shared her familial love in her later years with a few people who needed a safe and caring place to live.  She was always generous and ready to help anyone who needed it.  She will be dearly remembered.

Due to Covid 19, a memorial service date has not been scheduled yet.  If you would like to join us in celebrating the life of this amazing woman, please send your contact information to Catherine at catherinem412@aol.com or leave contact information in the condolence section on this site.