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  Betty Tigner Turner, 53N, and Dr. John Turner Jr., 52C, 55M |
Gifts from friends, colleagues, and former classmates created the Betty Tigner Turner Scholarship. Contributions to this fund are still being accepted, and these can be doubled if one's employer has a matching gift program. The Betty Tigner Turner Professorship was endowed by gifts from her husband, Dr. John S. Turner Jr. 52C, 55M, retired director of the Division of Otolaryngology at Emory's School of Medicine, and the couple's three daughters and their respective families. "We all discussed a way to honor Betty after her death," says Dr. Turner. "She didn't know about our plans beforehand, but we agreed she would be pleased to know that gifts in her memory would help ensure that deserving Emory students will have a chance to receive a first-rate nursing education and that a deserving Emory faculty member will be rewarded for his or her excellence in the classroom." |
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 mory, and the School of Nursing in particular, have been very important to the Turners. An aunt Elizabeth, for whom Betty was named, graduated from the nursing school in 1926. A daughter, also named Elizabeth, was a nursing graduate in 1981 (76Ox, 78C). Other aunts and uncles of Mrs. Turner's, as well as a brother-in-law, attended the university, making Emory a tangible member
of the entire Turner family, says her husband.
"Betty took her connection to the school seriously," he said, pointing out that she served a term as president of the Nurses Alumni Association and sat on the search committees for the school's last two deans. Mrs. Turner's influence on health care and on her community extended well beyond the parameters of campus, however. A native of LaGrange, Ga., she worked for several years as a public health nurse for the DeKalb County Health Department. She was secretary of the DeKalb Junior League in the early 1970s and was recognized with a certificate of appreciation from the DeKalb Community Council on Aging for ten years of volunteering with Meals on Wheels. A devoted mother and gourmet cook, she was an active member of the Oak Grove United Methodist Church. |
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 etty Turner was also a dear friend to many, including Betty Marie Stewart, 52N.
"Betty and I felt our education at the School of Nursing made a real difference in our lives," says Mrs. Stewart. "It was our belief that nurses are the essential component in the health care system, and that the excellence that is the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing must be perpetuated and insured by her alumni and friends. "I miss Betty's sense of humor, her contagious laugh, her intensity, her courage...and our shared devotion to our alma mater. She was my beloved friend." |
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 n a posthumous move, the Georgia State Legislature recognized the enormous impact of Mrs. Turner's life by passing House Resolution No. 1021. The proclamation was read into the official proceedings on Feb. 24, 1998, and concluded with these words: "Now, therefore, be it resolved by the House of Representatives that the members of this body express their deepest
and sincerest sympathy at the passing of one of this state's most outstanding citizens, Mrs. Betty Tigner Turner, and extend their heartfelt appreciation for the Betty Tigner Turner Professorship of Nursing which has been established in her honor."
The reading of that statement was followed by a standing ovation from the legislature and the attending audience--which included Mrs. Turner's good friend and former classmate, Doris Seay Barnette, 53N, 56N, of Chesapeake, Va., as well as one very moved husband. "It was a remarkable gesture," says Dr. Turner, "for a remarkable lady." For information on contributing to the Betty Tigner Turner Scholarship, call the development office at (404) 727-6917. |
A Nursing Treasure | A Legacy of Scholars | 'A Remarkable Lady'
Missions of the Heart | A Question of Ethics
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Copyright © Emory University, 1998. All Rights Reserved.
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Web version by Jaime Henriquez.