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Billie Lee Turner III
Billie Lee Turner III
Posted
Bill Turner, 42, a Fountain Hills resident, passed on May 18, 2013 two years to the day after his mother passed, both from a long struggle with myotonic dystrophy (MD).
Bill was born Aug. 15, 1970 in Austin, Texas to Billie L. Turner II and Linda Lee (Van Zandt) Turner. He spent his early life in Austin, Norman, Okla., and Worcester, Mass. where he graduated from St. Peter-Marian High School in 1988.
Bill was an outstanding athlete in his youth, lettering in soccer and golf at St. Peter-Marian, but by his senior year his MD began to impede his abilities. Bill also suffered from Asperger Syndrome from an early age, although he was not formally diagnosed until 2009.
He moved to Arizona with his father and mother in 2008, and moved to Fountain Hills in 2012. Disabled from MD, he enjoyed playing bridge at the Fountain Hills Community Center and watching golf, which he could no longer play.
Bill will be remembered as a gentle soul who never had anything ill to say about anyone. Bill is survived by his father, Dr. B. L. Turner II, Gilbert F. White Professor of Environment and Society, Arizona State University, and his sister, V. Kelly Turner, of Tempe.
Support for research on myotonic dystrophy would be appreciated: Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation in the memory of Bill Turner (www.myotonic.org).
