Thomas N. Turner; 1936-2024

Tom Turner passed away July 1 after sustaining a fall. Tom was born in Bellingham, WA, Nov. 19, 1936, to Henry W. Turner and Evelyn Dahlquist Turner. His father was an educator. His mother, a nurse, wanted Tom to follow in their shoes in the professional field. Although, his mother always said that at a very early age Tom knew what he wanted to be.   

Tom was a man of vision. He could see what could be. Probably in the very beginning his most spoken-about vision was how he got started in his ranching career. He said, “When I was a kid my first livestock was pigeons. I sold and traded pigeons.” As verified by his long-time grade school friend, Jack Homann: “Tommy sold me homing pigeons and they would always go home after I bought them.” Tom traded pigeons for goats, then goats for a nurse cow, raised calves and traded calves for a horse. And this was all before he got into high school. Tom bought his first piece of ground while in high school using the $2,500 that was meant for college. Instead of playing sports he spent every weekend clearing and working his little piece of paradise, which was far from paradise located on Thompson Creek outside of Tenino, WA. He would cut cedar to shingles to help make payments. He had an old shed on the property, no power and no plumbing, but he thought he had it all.  

Tom could not wait to graduate from high school—he had things to do. After high school, he started to educate himself better in the livestock world. He did have a handful of cows by then, but after an outbreak of lungworm in the cows, he set that place aside to go out and learn more about the art of being a cowboy/cowman. He never really classified himself as a cowboy, but a cowman. Working for Al Anna Herefords as a herdsman for a short time, he realized to learn he had to go to cow country. So, in 1957, he hit the road to Burns, OR, getting a job in Silvies, OR, at what is now know as the Ponderosa Ranch.  

Tom returned to his little acreage on the Washington coast outside of Tenino. He sold that property to a developer and bought another larger place at the end of Skookumchuck Valley outside of Tenino. Tom started working construction to help fund and develop that ranch called the Rafter Lazy T. This is where Tom came across a young girl who used to ride through his ranch, who became his wife of 60 years. Kathleen B. (Kloppmann) Turner, a daughter of a career military father and a stay-at-home housewife. She was 17 and Tom was 27. And so the story goes. They married on July 10, 1965, in Olympia, WA. A year later, a son was born, Tate Thomas Turner and later a daughter, Marnie Kathleen Turner. 

Selling that property, the Tom Turner family moved to Ellensburg, WA, ranching and working construction. This is when Tom felt he had enough cows to quit construction and ranch full time. During this time, Tom was named Bi-Centennial Cattleman of the Year for Kittitas County and Grassman of the Year in 1976. After 11 years of ranching in Kittitas County, the Turner family moved to Princeton, OR, acquiring the Horseshoe T Ranch in a remote part of Harney County. This was ranching the way ranching was meant to be. Tom and Kathi ranched here from 1977 to 1981, then moved to Drewsey, OR, and developed Turner Brangus Ranch. Together they developed the largest Brangus herd on the West Coast, an accomplishment Tom was very proud of. He always said the commercial cattle were good, but the satisfaction of developing a good foundation of purebred cattle was superior. The International Brangus Breeders agreed with Tom, and Turner Brangus Ranch was awarded the prestigious Pioneer Breeder Award, only the third ranch to be awarded at that time. 

After 27 years in Drewsey, Tom and Kathi retired and moved to Winnemucca, NV, while wintering in Scottsdale, AZ. A life well lived, although Tom never did accept retirement like most. His heart remained in ranching and the livestock business. 

Tom is survived by his wife Kathi of 60 years; his son, Tate Turner (Becky), Ontario, OR; and daughter, Marnie Turner, Winnemucca, NV; along with five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. 

Memorial donations can be made in Tom’s memory to the Drewsey Cemetery Fund, PO Box 216, Drewsey, OR 97904.