Sewickley's Oldest Resident Dies at 103

              >cfli Sewickley's oldest resident"dies at' 103
•
By Mike May	
Sewickley's oldest resident died Dec. 8, 1986, at
the age of 103. John Turner,
who also was born here,
passed away at his home at
917 Nevin Ave.
According to historian
Bettie Cole, Mr. Turner
was the son of Charles and
Mary Ellen Turner. The
Turner family came from
Raleigh, North Carolina,
and settled on a farm on
Blackburn Road. They
later sold the property,
which became the site for
Sewickley Valley Hospital.
John Turner attended a
one-room school in "Dut-
chtown," an old name for
what would become
Sewickley Heights. When
his family moved from the
farm onto Centennial
Avenue in Sewickley
borough, he completed his
education at the Broad
Street school.
Virginia Hailstock, a
longtime Centennial
Avenue neighbor of the
Turners, recalled that the
family offered dancing
lessons at their residence.
She said John Turner continued dancing when he felt
"inspired." Noted Miss
Hailstock, "I remember
once seeing John Turner
toe dancing from Grimes to
Continued on Page 7A	
John Turner
Turner dies at 103
Continued from Page 3
Blackburn."
Mr. Turner played the
drum in Fess Wilson's Cornet Band, which entertained at many local functions
here in the late 1800s and
early-1900s, including the
dedication of the Sewickley
Bridge, in 1911. According
to Ms. Cole, one of the
band's most inspired selections was "When the Saints
Go Marching In."
Mr. Turner's employment history was diverse.
He drove a truck for the
Campney's Market, now
the site of Thrift Drug. He
worked as a handyman.
Miss Hailstock said he sold
herbs to local drugstores,
picking  them  in  nearbv
Sewickley, and Mary <T/
ington of Leetsdale. \
There was no viewing or
service. Burial was in
Sewickley Cemetery. Arrangements were handled
by the Richard D. Cole
Funeral Home, Sewickley.
Soman 	
Alice Soman, 85, of 411
Ambridge Ave., Fair Oaks,
died Dec. 8, 1986, in her
home.
She was born Feb. 18,
1901, in what is now
Czechoslovakia. Mrs.
Soman was the wife of
Charles Soman, who died
in July 1956.
She was a member of
Divine Redeemer Catholic
Church, Ambridge, and the
Christian Mothers of the
church