Ageless Volunteer Rewarded

LINCOLN GARDENS - When the Rev. Walter L. Turner gave the Hillsborough County Department of Aging Services background information for an award nomination, he thought it was a local competition.

So it came as a surprise when he was among 20 seniors honored nationwide for their volunteer services.

Turner, 84, was named a recipient of the MetLife Foundation Older Volunteers Enrich America Awards, which were presented in May in Washington. The award honors exemplary contributions of older volunteers and promotes volunteering among older adults.

Turner teaches computer skills to seniors through the county's Retired Senior Volunteer Program. For more than six years, he has led a weekly class at the West Shore Senior Center, 4102 W. Spruce St. He also serves as chairman of the countywide program's advisory board.

A former teacher and school district administrator, Turner said he wanted to teach the classes "as I always had teaching within me."

The Tampa native, who graduated from then all-black Middleton High School, said he saw a "lot of people who want to be computer literate. I found there was a real need in our neighborhoods and for seniors."

Usually he has four students in each six-week course; ages range from 55 to 92.

A recent class focused on using Internet search engines.

"I give them two or three examples and then let them do it on their own," Turner said.

He said students like learning to e-mail friends and family across the country and finding the online versions of their hometown newspapers.

Theresa Washington, 72, a school crossing guard, said the class is improving her computer skills.

"I really need it," Washington said. "Everything is going to be high-tech.

"I call him a brilliant man," she said of Turner. "He's a kind man - a nice man that I have known for many, many years. He's always been the same Mr. Turner."

Lori Radice, the senior center's manager, said Turner often comes in to help with other activities. He always introduces new students to the staff and other seniors.

Those include Mami Turner, his wife of 29 years. She had a stroke and has other medical problems, which have affected her memory and ability to walk. Her husband takes her to the center each day and is her primary caregiver at home.

"He has the patience of Job," Radice said. "He is so kind and caring."

Turner has been a pastor in Hillsborough and Polk counties for more than 30 years and is an associate clergyman at Mount Olive African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1747 W. La Salle St., visiting the sick and homebound.

On April 27, First Mount Carmel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 4406 N. 26th St., dedicated its parish center as the Rev. Walter L. Turner Fellowship Hall and Administrative Offices. A scholarship fund also has been started in Turner's name at the church, where he was pastor from 1985 to 1991.

In May, he received the county's Exceptional Award at ceremonies for the Department of Aging Services.

"He exemplifies what true volunteerism is by giving his time unselfishly to the community of Hillsborough County while being a full-time caregiver of his wife," department manager Mary Jo McKay said in making the presentation.