Converse Mourns Passing of Professor and Friend, Dr. John Turnbull
It is with the sadness that Converse shares news of the unexpected death of Dr. John Turnbull, who retired last year as associate professor of organ and chair of the department of performance studies for the Petrie School of Music. Although Dr. Turnbull officially retired, he remained an adjunct faculty member and continued to teach regularly for the Petrie School.
The funeral will be held Monday, May 8 2006 at 4:00 PM at the Episcopal Church of the Advent in Spartanburg. Friends will be received following the service in the Parish Community Life Center. The Petrie School of Music will provide special pre-service music beginning at 3:15 PM in honor of Dr. Turnbull’s love of and lifelong dedication to music. Arrangements are being handled by Lanford-Dunbar Funeral Home.
“We have been fortunate to have John in our midst for the past three decades,” said Dr. Joseph Hopkins, Dean of the Petrie School of Music. “He has been a great gift to the School of Music, Converse and the entire community. His presence will be missed but his passion for music, life and laughter continue through all of us.”
A native of Frederick, OK, Dr. Turnbull held degrees in organ and piano from the University of Oklahoma and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. While a student at Eastman, he was awarded the Performer’s Certificate and the Artist’s Diploma, the school’s highest awards for excellence in performance. He went on to study organ and harpsichord at the Amsterdam Conservatory as a Fulbright Scholar in the Netherlands.
Dr. Turnbull was a winner of the Southwestern Regional Organ Playing Competition of the American Guild of Organists and appeared as recitalist at may of the organization’s conventions.
Since joining the Converse faculty in 1978, Dr. Turnbull chaired The Petrie School of Music’s Department of Performance, conducted the Converse Chorale for 17 years, and taught first- and second-year music theory and aural skills, organ literature, church music courses, and classical piano. He served on the Faculty Senate and was instrumental in securing the 57-rank Casavant Freres organ which is a prominent feature of Twichell Auditorium. Dr. Turnbull also served as organist and choirmaster at the Episcopal Church of the Advent in Spartanburg.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to:
Converse College
attn: John Turnbull Memorial for Petrie School of Music
580 East Main Street
Spartanburg, SC 29302
The Church of the Advent Foundation Music Fund
attn: John Turnbull Memorial
141 Advent Street
Spartanburg, SC 29302
Mobile Meals of Spartanburg
attn: John Turnbull Memorial
PO BOX 461
Spartanburg, SC 29304