Shortened life lived to the fullest

Lolita Harper

Loyalty was a tenet of Douglas Alan Turner’s life. He stuck by his

friends, kept their secrets in confidence and treated them with

respect, his loved ones said.

“He was extremely loyal to his people and in turn, his people were

extremely loyal to him,” his wife Loretta Turner said.

His allegiance to his loved ones helped in his battle against

bladder cancer, as friends flooded the last days of his life with

love, care and support. On March 11, 2004, Douglas Turner lost that

fight and passed away.

Although his death was premature, Turner packed as much life as he

could in his 60 years, becoming an icon in the automobile racing

industry. Turner, who has pursued nearly every facet of racing from

soapbox to Formula One Championships, holds more records than Loretta

Turner could even count -- including the coveted cross county driving

record of 32 hours and seven minutes.

“I have boxes and boxes of trophies in the attic that I am going

to have to find something to do with,” Loretta Turner said.

The couple never had children, so unlike Douglas Turner, who

learned his love of automobiles from his father, there is no

offspring to pass the legacy on to.

And what a legacy it is. The 1995-96 edition of industry magazine

“The Vintage Voice,” wrote an extensive profile on Turner, who did

not only capture the racing industry with the horsepower but with

brainpower as the founder and owner of the leading aftermarket

manufacturing companies, GT Styling.

Just because there are no Turner children in the picture doesn’t

mean Douglas’s love for high performing automobiles was not shared.

Loretta Turner can be seen trackside in various pictures in the

couple’s Newport Beach home.

The couple married in 1978 and has spent the past 25 years

traveling, laughing, loving and sharing. On Wednesday, the Turners

took their final trip together as Loretta Turner took her beloved

husband on Wednesday to his final resting spot in Hawaii.

The Turners have been going to Kauai repeatedly since their

honeymoon and eventually bought a house there, Loretta Turner said.

Each time they would leave, her husband would whine like a

school-boy; teasingly saying, “Mommy, Mommy, do we have to go?”

“And this time, bless his heart, he gets to stay,” Loretta said.