Group urges Save the Depot donations in memory of teacher, coach – and train fanatic – Ron Turner

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Everyone who knew Ron Turner knew two things about him — he loved teaching and coaching kids, and he loved trains.

Turner, who taught history, sociology and psychology and coached basketball and golf at Charles City High School for 33 years, died in November 2014.

Now, a little more than six years later, a group of friends is looking to honor Turner’s memory by contributing to something that they are sure he would be closely involved with if he were still here — the effort to save the Milwaukee Road railroad depot.

The group is urging people who knew Ron to make a donation in his memory to the Save the Depot fundraiser, which is trying to collect enough money to move the historical depot before the railroad that owns it tears it down.

Some of Turner’s former cohorts and one of his sons gathered this week by Turner’s headstone in Riverside Cemetery to take a photo and reminisce about their friend and father.

That headstone includes an engraving of a locomotive and train car, a lasting testament to Turner’s love of trains and railroads — a love that, frankly, is sort of a mystery.

“I wish I did. I don’t,” said Turner’s son, Chad, when asked if he knew why his dad was so fond of trains. “I don’t know if my mom even knows.”

Chuck LeMaster, who played a role in getting the group together, said Turner had told him once he had no family connection to railroads.

Nevertheless, the group agreed, almost everyone who knew Ron had a story about how deep his personal connection with trains ran.

LeMaster, who taught with Turner in Charles City, said that once after they had retired they were working on remodeling a bathroom in Turner’s home.

“His phone would go off and he’d say, ‘We’ve got to go,’” LeMaster said, recalling how people would call him to let him know a train was going by.

“After about the third time I said we’re never going to get this done if the trains don’t stop,” he said.

“I really didn’t know how deep an affection he had for trains up until that point. I always enjoyed talking with him about it, because he really knew his history and he knew about the towns in Iowa and how they either started because of rivers or because of railroads,” LeMaster said.

“One time Teri (Turner’s wife) said, ‘He’s crazy about trains.’ And I said, well, as long as it’s a nice kind of crazy, that’s good. It’s nice to have a hobby like that,” LeMaster said.

Todd Forsyth is a business teacher who until recently was the school district’s long-time activities director, and who was head basketball coach for many years while Turner was the assistant coach.

“I’m not a train guy,” Forsyth said. “I’m a basketball coach and a teacher. We went to state tournaments and every year with Ron we’d have to go out and look at the tracks. We’d have to go to Hobby Lobby so we could look at (model) train cars. And you know what? After about 20 years of that I kind of have an appreciation for it.”

Forsyth said some of Turner’s former players probably initially thought his hobby was strange, “then, when they got done they had an appreciation for it, too.”

“To me it was his way of teaching history to others, and the railways was a nice path to do that. I think he created an appreciation for that history to a lot of people. You started getting educated without knowing you were going to be educated,” Forsyth said.

Pete Fullard, a retired railroad worker, got to know Turner through a model train club.

“He had a book. He’d keep every train he’d see, count how many cars on the train, what the engine number was and the caboose number, and all that kind of stuff, every one he saw,” Fullard said.

Chad Turner said his dad had piles of notepads full of the details.

“He recorded it every time,” he said, agreeing with Fullard, noting how it was a common sight to see his dad’s white Buick parked along the tracks with his dad watching the trains go by.

LeMaster said he recently came across a brochure for the Save the Depot effort, which listed different levels of donations.

“I knew that I wanted to donate some money, but it was going to be a small amount compared to what some people gave,” LeMaster said. “I was thinking I’d like to give a couple hundred dollars,  and then I was thinking, if we could find a bunch of people that would pool our money and get a sizable amount I’d sure like to see something done in Ron’s name, because I know if he were alive he’d be active in this.”

For a total donation of at least $1,000, Turner’s name could be added to a plaque. “But it would be even more cool if we could move it up there, make him a conductor or something,” LeMaster said.

“I don’t want to put any pressure on anybody, but I think there’s enough people who have respect for Ron and his memory that, given the chance, they’d want to do it in his name,” LeMaster said. “Donations of any amount would be acceptable, and I thought then, like a challenge, let’s see how much money we can raise in memory of Ron. This would be a nice way to honor him.”

LeMaster said anyone interested in contributing can send a check to Save the Depot Fund, PO Box 683, Charles City IA 50616, “and at the bottom of the check on the memo line write something like Ron Turner Memorial.”

“I think the main thing I would want people to know is Ron really was a gentle man. I think he’s had, I don’t know how many students over the years, in the thousands, and I doubt there would be many that would have a bad word to say about him,” LeMaster said.

“I think he would be humbled by this if even $100 was raised, but if a more substantial amount was raised he would really be honored and humbled that people thought that much of him,” LeMaster said.