Thomas Turnbull
Obituary's Biography:
Thomas Turnbull was born in Mendota, IL on October 20, 1934, the first child of Rev. Roland E. Turnbull and Dorothy M. Turnbull of LaMoille, IL. At the age of 2, the family moved to Batavia, IL. While in the sixth grade the family moved to Alton, IL. Thomas graduated from Alton High School in 1952. He received a BA degree in History from Shurtleff College in 1956. He received an MA in geography from SIU Carbondale in 1958.
Thomas entered the US Army after graduation. He was sent to Natick, MA where he made climatic maps. While there, he accepted an invite to join a US Air Force expedition, and spent 6 months as a weather observer to Ward Hunt Island, off the north coast of Ellesmere Island, Canada.
Following his Army career he married Marianne Paul of Alton, IL in 1960. They moved to Waukegan, IL and he began his teaching career in Waukegan teaching grades five, six and eight.
Tom left teaching to take a position with Follett Publishing, Chicago, as Director of Research for the Social Studies Department. After two years he resumed teaching and taught in Deerfield Dist. 109 for 26 years.
After retirement he and his wife, Marianne, traveled widely visiting first Alaska and eastern Russia, the Panama Canal, Thailand, visiting the Arctic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and two trips to England and Scotland. In 2003, he returned with his oldest son, Paul, to the arctic site where he had been stationed. He and his wife cruised around the southern tip of South America and their last trip was on the Rhine River then to Switzerland.
While on the first trip to Scotland, Tom was given the hereditary honor of Freeman of Berwick-on-Tweed. This award dates back hundreds of years. On his second trip, Tom stood and vouched for sons Paul and John to receive the same hereditary honor.
Tom enjoyed fishing, gardening and singing in the church choir. He supported many environmental groups and Native American organizations, as well as veteran groups, Meals on Wheels, food pantries, and his church.
He is survived by his wife, Marianne, three children Paul (Carol) Turnbull, Donna (James) Zradicka, and John (Camille, dec.) Turnbull, and four grandchildren, Alan and Steven Turnbull and Anna and Scott Zradicka, and a sister, Ruth Evans of Madison, WI, and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents Rev. Roland and Dorothy Turnbull, and sister, Rae (and Mike) Farley.
Memorial Service will be Saturday, April 2 at 1:00pm at Millburn United Church of Christ, Lake Villa, Illinois. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Meals on Wheels program to feed homebound and needy families. https://give.mowp.org/give/352089/#!/donation/checkout
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I have good memories of my Uncle Tom Turnbull from when I was a young boy and our family would make the trip down from Racine, WI to visit. My mother, Rae, was Tom’s sister. Tom was willing to help me learn how to fish in some of the nearby ponds and I’ve been an avid angler ever since. My family also got to spend some time with Tom & Marianne and my cousins at a family reunion near Green Lake, WI and they came to visit us at our farm in River Falls. I never got to meet my grandfather, Roland Turnbull, who came to Chicago from Scotland as a young man. From what I’ve heard, Tom and his dad shared many of the same fine qualities. Tom’s was a life well lived!
Our sympathies to your family in the passing of Tom. We’ll always remember him for his generous spirit.