Harold F. Turner

July 9, 1924 - July 9, 2008

Harold F. “Fritz” Turner, age 84 of Batesville, died Wednesday, July 9, 2008, at St. Andrews Health Campus. Born March 1, 1924 in Batesville, he is the son of Josephine (Nee: Hickman) and Fred Turner. He was a life long resident of Batesville.Fritz served in the Army during World War II. After the service, he attended Butler University and earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree and the following year a Masters of School Administration. He spent his working years with both the Tuberculosis Prevention Association, now known as the American Lung Association as a Director and Indiana Department of Education as the Director of State School Lunch Program. Many times the story has been told of early on in his post with the Department of Education he received a call about nine railroad box cars of fresh plums that he could have and which he accepted. He soon found out that their shelf life was seven days, due to the lack of conveniences we have today and frantically scrambled to use them before they went rotten. Later he received a similar call about several boxcar loads of cabbage he was welcome to have. Being a quick study, he politely declined.He is most widely remembered as a talented trumpet player and for his group he founded, “The Fritz Turner Orchestra.” The group spent years playing a host of venues in the tri-state area from receptions to night clubs. Although their repertoire included many styles of music, his passion was the big band sound. In its heyday, the orchestra numbered 16 musicians. He always encouraged young musicians and fostered them throughout his career. In 2005, he was proudly inducted into the Southeastern Indiana Musicians Hall of Fame.In addition to his orchestra, he was also a member of the Eureka Band for over sixty years, being honored last year for his service and dedication to the band. He received many awards and honors during his career of which he was proud of, doing something he dearly loved. Fritz was also a member of the Batesville V.F.W. Post #3183, the Prell-Bland American Legion Post #271 and the Batesville Eagles Aerie #1130. There will be no visitation. It was his request to donate his body to the Indiana University Anatomical Board. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made to the Eureka Band and sent to the funeral home.