Rancher, adventurer and big game guide Robert Walter (Bobby) Turner died May 19 at the age of 82. Bobby grew up on a ranch off of Lochend Trail 15 miles northeast of Cochrane with his parents and three older sisters, Marion, Olive and Gwyn.
Rancher, adventurer and big game guide Robert Walter (Bobby) Turner died May 19 at the age of 82.
Bobby grew up on a ranch off of Lochend Trail 15 miles northeast of Cochrane with his parents and three older sisters, Marion, Olive and Gwyn. His parents, Bob and Mabel, purchased the land in 1925 and taught him and his siblings to look after livestock, chickens and turkeys.
According to Bobby's contribution to the More Big Hill Country book, his household growing up was a musical one. Bobby himself was skilled at singing as well as playing guitar ukulele and harmonica.
“Our family liked to sing a lot in the house, in the barn or riding on a horse, ” Bobby wrote.
Bobby's father also taught him to hunt and shoot at a young age, a pastime he turned into a career as a big game guide in 1969, said his wife, Sunni. He also learned how to pack a horse thanks to his father and won many trophies for that skill in competitions.
Bobby's father ensured his son knew the importance of volunteering growing up. As an adult, he became involved with numerous organizations including director of the Calgary Milk Foundation, president of Cochrane North Mutual Telephone, president of the Cochrane North Rural Electrification System, and more.
“He always told Bobby, ‘You gotta help your community, and don't complain - if you want to complain, do something.' So that was something Bobby grew up with, ” explained Sunni Turner, Bobby's wife of more than 63 years.
In 1952, Bobby met Sonia (Sunni) Stephanie Kulyk, the love of his life. At the time she was teaching grades one to nine at Lochend School, which was about 20 miles northeast of Cochrane.
“One day my sister sent this fellow to pick me up and take me to the Ghost Dam - I'd go there every weekend pretty near - and we passed Bobby by with his machinery. I waved at him and later he said, ‘I guessed she might like me so I better make a date with her,' ” Sunni said with a laugh.
Sunni described Bobby as a bit of a romantic and said every date he made with her he'd make the effort to pick up flowers, orchids, or some sort of bouquet.
“My sister was married to the head guy at the Ghost Dam and one day we went up to the Fairmont Palliser in Calgary for the annual power banquet. We were up at the penthouse and he proposed to me and that was the beginning of it all, ” Sunni said.
The two moved to Bobby's farm in 1952 and were married in 1953. Together Sunni and Bobby raised five sons - Tony, Jim, Norman, Frank, and Winston - operated a dairy farm for 43 years, and grew crops of oats and barley.
Over the years, Bobby's family grew to include many grandchildren and great-grandchildren whom he loved dearly. He was also a very sociable man according to Sunni.
“He had friends everywhere, he talked to everybody, ” Sunni explained.
A Celebration of Life was held for Bobby in Cochrane on May 26. The event was well attended by his many friends and large family.
“He would have thought it was very fitting that his boys sang God Must be a Cowboy at Heart.
Everyone whose lives he touched will dearly miss Bobby. As read by Jim at Bobby's Celebration of Life, “May his spirit soar forever over the mountains, lakes, rivers, creeks and prairies that he so dearly loved. ”
