Muriel Jean (McWhorter) Turner
Last Updated on August 5, 2024 by Cass County Communication Network
Muriel Jean Turner, 92 of Logansport, IN, passed away Friday, August 2, 2024, in Woodbridge Health Campus with her family by her side.
Born July 11, 1932, in Danville, IL, she was the daughter of the late Claude Lafayette and Bessie Violet (Baldwin) McWhorter.
On August 25, 1951, in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was married to James W. “Jim” Turner. The Turner’s later moved to Logansport in 1959 when her husband, Jim, took a job at the YMCA. The Logansport community has reaped the benefits of the wonderful family they created and the many lives they touched through education and sports. Jim was playing baseball when she started dating him and Muriel spent much of her life on the sidelines as Coach Turner’s wife, cheering the Berries to victory while wearing her lucky hat. Coach preceded her in death on September 23, 2021.
Once her children were raised, Muriel enrolled at Indiana University-Kokomo to pursue a degree in education. She had worked as an aide with Connie Robinson in speech class and was inspired to switch her course, driving to Purdue University every day to earn both her Bachelor and Master degrees in Speech and Language Pathology. Muriel worked for the Logansport Community School Corporation as a speech teacher for many years. She made each month a special theme and her students looked forward to the ways she made learning fun. Muriel was active in the Cass County Retired Teacher’s Association and the Indiana Speech, Language & Hearing Association. She loved getting together for lunch with her teacher friends.
The former Wheatland Avenue Methodist Church and its congregation were extensions of her family. Muriel had a mission to serve God and she did it in such a loving way – by organizing the annual Mother’s Day brunch at the church year after year. She cherished the bonds between mothers, daughters, granddaughters and her many friends and wanted to create a special memory for them. As soon as she was finished with the current year’s banquet, she would begin working on next year’s theme. Muriel taught Sunday School, worked at chicken noodle dinners and more than anything – she was a devout student of the Bible, having read it cover-to-cover many times over. Muriel was honored to be the godmother of Tyler Ness – a role she took on with prayerful devotion.
Muriel was an eclectic collector and famous for what has to be one of the world’s largest Felix the Cat collections. Her love for the LHS Berries continued with a collection of strawberries. These two collections were the catalyst in suggesting memorial donations may be made in Muriel’s memory to Felix’s Pantry or the Berry Boosters, of which she was a member, both in care of Logansport High School, 1 Berry Lane, Logansport, IN 46947.
Muriel was also a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma sorority, the 3rd Mother’s Study Club, the Cass County Historical Society.
She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Claudia & Bruce Snyder; son and daughter-in-law, James Matthew and Sharon Turner, grandchildren, Dr. Jessica Snyder and husband Eric Petenbrink, Kayla Patrick and her husband, Zach, and Matthew Turner and his wife, Hannah; and two great-grandchildren who she adored, Elijah Patrick and James Peter “J.P.” Turner.
In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by her brother, Claude L. McWhorter.
A visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 6, in Fisher Funeral Chapel, 1801 Chase Road, Logansport.
A Funeral Service celebrating Muriel’s life will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, August 7, in the funeral home with Dawn Fisher officiating.
Burial will follow in St. John’s Cemetery.
You may share memories and offer condolences on Muriel’s Tribute Wall at www.fisherfuneralchapel.com