Robert Patterson Turner Jr. ’35

Bob died in Albuquerque, N.M., Jan. 7, 2002.

At Princeton, he was active on the Daily Princetonian, joined Cloister Inn, and graduated with a degree in civil engineering. For the next 25 years, he said, "life was great but not enough." He rose to executive vice president of New York Wire Cloth Co. in York, Pa., where his father had worked, set up his own company (Columbia Products Inc.), and joined the York Country Club and Chamber of Commerce. But something was missing.

So with his wife, Josephine M. Vester, whom he wed in 1934, Bob made his "first best decision" and moved to New Mexico. An interest in international affairs led him to become a founder and first president of Santa Fe's Council on International Relations, to serve on the city's Planning and Historical Styles commissions, and serve in other civic organizations. He earned a master's from New Mexico University and took on various local academic posts, including teaching Latin American history at the College of Santa Fe, where he set up and directed a continuing-education program.

In 1962 an auto accident ended Bob's passion for golf, squash, and running. More devastating was Josie's death in 1991. He then moved to Albuquerque where his son, Robert P. III, lived. Others in the family Bob left behind are daughters Margaret and Blanche, seven grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

The Class of 1935