'The epitome of civic service': Corpus Christi's first female mayor buried Saturday

Publishing scion J. Kendrick Noble loved Texas so much that he wrote books about the Lone Star State, his grandson Jay said. It was a love he also instilled in his daughter, Betty. 

So as he embarked on a publishing tour that would take him across the country in the early 1950s, he gave Betty the option of taking a semester off from Vassar College -- the pre-eminent women's college she attended at the time -- to enroll at the University of Texas her junior year.

"He kind of mapped out for her his path of where he was going to be traveling," Ramirez said. "He said 'If you want to go a semester anywhere along this route, you can pick a college and I'll drop you off on my way out to the West Coast, and then I'll pick you up on the way back."

Little did she know that decision would set her on a course to the Coastal Bend. 

It was at UT she met a NROTC scholarship student bound for the Navy, and James Rice Turner's humble upbringing couldn't have been more different from Betty's.

"His parents never owned a home -- they always rented," Jay said. "He shared a bedroom with his grandmother. He didn't have anything, and so they were oil and water. Just opposites."

James may not have been a "reader or a learner," like Betty, according to Jay, but, like her, he was a people person. 

They were married in 1953, with both Betty and James having received their degrees, James receiving his naval commission and the wedding taking place in a 30-days period. 

As women did in those days, Betty followed her husband to his home state, where she adapted quickly, Jay said.

"She wasn't a cowgirl or anything, by any means, but she was fiercely Texan," he said.

After his commission ended, James was offered a job in the Coastal Bend, where the family would stay.

Betty raised her family and joined different civic and non-profit organizations. When she died, she had lent her time and energy to almost 50 groups throughout her life and started her own real estate business.  

"She loved Corpus Christi, and she was the Energizer Bunny," said Joe McComb, who served on the Corpus Christi City Council during Turner's time as mayor, and succeeded her as mayor 30 years later. "She didn't ever seem to run out of energy."

Her ability to juggle home and work and numerous projects -- including driving back and forth to and from what is now Texas A&M University-Kingsville to earn her masters degree in psychology -- was one that her sons, Jay and Randall, found themselves marveling at as they prepared to say goodbye.

"We put together her obituary goin' 'How did she do all these things?" Jay said. "We don't understand how she did all these things."

But she always managed to be present for her family despite her busy calendar.

"She was ahead of her time as a working mom," Jay said. "She was a mother, a wife, a politician, a business owner and citizen, so, you know, very few women can do all those things -- and nor would I encourage many women to try and do all those things. 

"If you read Proverbs 31, it describes an excellent wife. It could also describe an excellent woman. It could also describe my mom, because she would rise up early -- she took care of her household, she took care of business, she took care of her community, and it's an excellent description of who she was."

Ramirez, the architect, met Betty Turner as he learned his craft from her husband and Turner/Ramirez founder Jack Turner. 

"That was a package deal, right?" he said. "Jack was my professional and business mentor, but I would say that Betty was very much my civic mentor. She just had a really wonderful sense of motivating people to become involved."

He started working with Jack Turner at a young age, and eventually became a part of the Turners' extended family, lovingly calling them his "grandparents." But it was Betty, he said, who drilled into him that in order to be successful, he would need to learn to look outside himself.

"I remember very distinctly, you know, her telling me, 'This community will give back only to you that what you put into it,' " he said. " 'You're only going to get out of this community what you're willing to put into it.' And that just always stuck with me. And I tell young people that now."

Betty knew that from experience, having poured herself into the city as a member of groups such as the Junior League of Corpus Christi, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the YMCA. But it was through her participation in Leadership Corpus Christi that Jay believes she was inspired to seek public office. 

She ran and won a seat on the Corpus Christi City Council in 1985, and later served as the city's mayor pro tem. 

In 1987, she ran for mayor against McComb, who was a councilman at the time; the mayor pro tem at the time, Jack Best; Corpus Christi attorney and the then-National LULAC President Tony Bonilla, and radio personality Vicente Carranza, for the seat being vacated by Luther Jones.

She won the mayoral race in a run-off against Bonilla with 57 percent of the vote.

"You would have thought that he would have been a runaway," Jay said. 

But he and Ramirez believe Betty's intelligence and emotional acuity were huge factors in her wins, despite being white in a predominantly Hispanic city.

"I would say that she was a groundbreaking mayor in the sense that she was very well embraced by the Hispanic community," Ramirez said. "She understood the cultural diversity of our community, the importance of it."

And while being a woman in what had been a man's role could be difficult for some, Betty Turner managed to skillfully navigate difficult situations. 

"It was compassionate, yet strong leadership," Ramirez said. "As a woman, she was a force to be reckoned with. She could fill those shoes. She could go stand toe-to-toe with the male leaders and be strong and steadfast in her ideals and what she wanted. And she won a lot of the times. Most of the time, she won."

It's a legacy that paved the way for three more female mayors, including Mary Rhodes, Nelda Martinez and current Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo. 

"Mayor Turner’s dedication to our city serves as an enduring inspiration, reminding us that barriers can be broken and change is possible," she said. "I am so grateful for her legacy and the trail she blazed, which continues to guide and motivate my service to our beloved Corpus Christi."

McComb was there to see Turner in action firsthand, calling her a gracious and fair leader who could transcend divides in the name of what was best for Corpus Christi. 

"(She was) huge fun to work with, but if there was a difference of opinion and she felt like her opinion was the right one, she stuck to it," he said. "And she either convinced other people that didn't agree with her to agree with her, or 'OK, we've got differences of opinion, but let's get this problem solved' and we'd work it out."

She said her deep belief in working together helped move the city forward. 

"That was kinda her thing," he said. "She believed in what she believed in. It wasn't just some cosmetic belief. If she believed in something firmly, she stuck to it. She also respected everybody, but she was a big, big believer in teamwork. I think we got a lot of accomplished 'cause she was there."

Ramirez points to instances in which she teamed up with Cisneros, her younger Hispanic counterpart in San Antonio, as one of the many ways in which she was ahead of her time. 

"They couldn't been from from opposite political spectrums or or backgrounds, but she was willing to reach out to him and learn from him," he said. "She was totally willing to do that because it was the right thing to do. And she felt like she could learn and grow from it."

It was a relationship that benefitted both Turner and Corpus Christi, as well as Cisneros and San Antonio, said the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

"Her lasting legacy was her belief in civic participation and civic progress," Cisneros said. "(Corpus Christi) made substantial advances in hospitality and infrastructure and economic development because Betty was a progress-oriented leader."

During his time at the helm in San Antonio, Cisneros said he always had an affinity for Corpus Christi and would frequently pack up his family and come down on weekends to reset for the coming week. 

"It was my favorite place to go and recover from the political life in San Antonio," he said. "And Betty, in the days that she was mayor, was always very attentive. 'Tell me what you need. We're happy to help.' And it was just good to know she was there."

The two forged a friendship working together in the Texas Municipal League, which he said was focused on the quality of local government in Texas.

"She was a good government person," he said. "And she was an ally in trying to fight for legislation and protect local governments in the legislature and in Austin. So that's how we first teamed up."

They would go on to help each other grow their cities -- with Cisneros lending Turner his support in the growth of the Port of Corpus Christi, and Turner helping Cisneros get the Alamodome built. 

He said Turner had offered to help him campaign for the now-iconic building's construction, and attended a news conference with him to bolster his argument that the facility would be beneficial to all of South Texas.

"That message really kind of sunk in and it became one of the arguments for the campaign (to build) that (taxpayers) eventually passed," he said. "And it ended up being true that people from Corpus Christi came to Spurs games. And to big conventions. That's the nature of our friendship, but, its much more than that."

Turner was smart, organized, and honest, he said, calling her "the epitome of civic service." 

"She was the perfect Chamber of Commerce president for Corpus," he said. "Couldn't have a better spokesperson. Her persona; she was just sincere. It was clear she wasn't just selling something because it was her job. She really fell in love with Corpus and its people and was about as sincere a public servant as you could ask for."

A graveside service is scheduled for 2:30 Saturday at Seaside Memorial Park, to be followed by a celebration of life at 3 p.m.