Frank Denzler
In one week, on September 23, Kevin Turner will celebrate another birthday and that mid-week day will be sandwiched between his teaching job, work, a possible hunting excursion and work around his Glenwood home.
The 1974 graduate of Rushville Consolidated High School was born at Rush Memorial Hospital Sept. 23, 1956 and from an early age was not one known to rest on his laurels.
“My earliest jobs were either mowing yards in my hometown of Glenwood during summer months or shoveling snow during winter,” he said.
During those early years he also would bale hay and work on a farm to earn spending money.
During his high school years he took more stable employment at the since closed Glenwood Grocery Store stocking shelves and bagging groceries for patrons. During the same time he was active in Boy Scouts, something he still looks back favorably on today. He liked the experiences offered through Scouting and being outside.
Growing up in a small town such as Glenwood was something he has always cherished and a few years ago he moved back to the outskirts of his hometown. “Now I live up on the hill,” he said.
Hunting and working on cars were two passions from nearly as far back as he can remember. Turner would frequently hunt squirrels, rabbits and deer with his father and brothers while growing up.
When given some time he still enjoys the sport.
During his high school years, when most guys his age were playing sports or wondering what they were going to do on Friday night, Turner already has his eyes set on the future and enrolled in Ivy Tech College in Richmond in pursuit of a degree in auto repair.
After graduating from Ivy Tech he began working for Joe Delon as a mechanic at the Marathon station on West Second Street in Rushville. A few auto job changes later he embarked on a 30 year career with Goodyear.
The job provided him with an outlet to pursue his passion of working on cars. He quickly rose through the ranks to manager before retiring in 2006.
During those years he was married and now has two grown children, Katie and Michael. He also is the proud grandfather of four: Jake, Kaden, Truest Grace and Rebecca.
He currently works at Davis Towing and teaches auto mechanics weekly at Ivy Tech, a position he has held for the past nine years.
“I have always loved working on cars, now I work on trucks — big trucks. It is something I should have done 30 years ago when I was a lot younger,” he said with a laugh.
Turner still manages to stay busy, and although his hair is a little lighter than it was years earlier his infectious laugh is as young sounding as during his high school days.
When given time he says he still like to hunt every once in a while but enjoys being home in the familiar surroundings of his hometown just about as much as anything.
Frank Denzler can be contacted at (765) 932-2222 ext. 106 or via e-mail at frank.denzler@rushvillerepublican.com. To add a comment to this story visit our Web site at www.rushvillerepublican.com.
