John Turner's Life

  John Turner's Life

April 2, 2016

John Turner

 

John felt a sharp pain in his chest and maybe wondered, “is this it?”  He was filling a tire with air in the yard and, as he fell to the ground, may have thought — “Is this all there is to life?  What about my life?  I was a good kid and did mostly what my parents asked of me.  No, I was not a mommy’s boy, but I didn’t drink, smoke or lie.  My parents insisted that I be honest in my dealings with other people, to work hard and go to church.  OK, I did sometimes tease his twin brother Jim or his little sister, Pat.  But it was all just good natured stuff and he never meant any harm.  

While still in High School, I got a job driving a school bus to pick up kids along the muddy or dusty and rough dirt roads of rural Edinburg, TX.  I learned to settle disputes among squabbling kids — but mostly used the wooden paddle I kept up by the driver’s seat to check the tire pressure each morning.  I also learned how to drive on muddy roads after the relatively rare South Texas rains.

After High School, I joined the army where I drove a jeep — chauffeuring Army officers and learning about army discipline.  I learned not to question my superiors and to drive them safely wherever they wished to go.  Some of the lessons I learned carried over for the rest of my life — like my affinity for khaki clothing.  As I lie here, staring at the sky, I am wearing my favorite khaki shirts and pants.  These long-sleeved shirts have been essential for protecting my light, /European skin from the torment of that hot, Texas summer sun.  But, for some reason, I decided not to make a career of the Army and returned to my family home in Edinburg.  I got a two-year degree in Agriculture from Pan American College which then led me to Texas A&M.  There I found Chemistry Class to be more than I bargained for.  So, I returned to Edinburg to seek my fortune.  It was there — in the Methodist Church — where I met this dark-haired girl that I found very attractive.  But my brother, Jim, was bolder than I and ultimately married her and they raised three kids.   

For a while, my brother Jim and I experimented with harvesting wheat in the American bread-belt.  We had relatives in Kansas so we stayed with them sometimes. We ultimately bought a used harvester and used it to harvest grain for farmers in South Texas until it became so worn out that it was no longer fixable. 

Ultimately, I got a job in the USDA Screw Worm factory at the old Moore Field Airbase west of Edinburg.  Male Screwworm flies were irradiated to sterilize them.  Then, when they were released in nature, they mated with wild females which then produced no offspring.  It was one of the few government programs that actually worked.  By rearing, sterilizing and releasing millions of these insects, Screwworms were eradicated across the Southern US and from South Texas.  But wild Screwworms could fly across the Rio Grande from Mexico to reinvest Texas, so the eradication program was extended into Mexico.  I made several trips into Mexico to assist with this program.  The end result is that these flesh-eating Screwworms are no longer a problem in the USA, Mexico, Central America and Islands of the Caribbean.

I met my wife through my mother.  Sherry nursed my mother for some ailment and Mom suggested that I meet her.  We married and produced the “light of my life” in Jeanette — now Jeanette Sterzack.   Jeanette’s husband, Steve, is a great guy and has proven to be a very good choice for a mate.

Later, I was moved to the USDA Lab in Kerrville, TX so we bought a home nearby and made it our permanent residence.   

Seems like everybody now has a computer, maybe I should get one.  But what the heck, I’ve got along OK for all the years without one and I have a perfectly good telephone.  Besides, they simply cost too much and I don’t know how to use one.  I certainly don’t need one to lay-out and sculpt the land for building another RV shed — which is what I’ve done for many years.

Maybe I was not a technology freak but I was a relatively good guy.  I often ate a salami sandwich for lunch and was never overweight.  Self-discipline dominated my life.   If I can be faulted for being essentially an honest, hardworking, freedom loving patriot — then so be it.  I continued working for a living until the day I died — which is right now.  Goodbye, everybody!

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