Our confrere, Fr. David Turner, passed into eternity today. Funeral arrangements will be announced soon. Please pray for our confrere.
REV. DAVID H. TURNER, O.S.B.
April 13, 1934-September 17, 2023 Monastic profession June 24, 1957 Priestly ordination May 25, 1963
Our confrere, Father David Turner, died at St. Patrick’s Residence in Naperville , Illinois, on the afternoon of September 17, 2023. Born in Chicago, Howard Turner attended Weber High School. After trying his vocation with the Resurrectionists, he came to St. Procopius College as a philosophy major and pre-divinity student. Joining the monastic community two years later, he professed vows on June 24, 1957. As a cleric and then following his ordination by Bishop Raymond Lane in St. Raymond Nonnatus Cathedral, Joliet, IL, on May 25, 1963, Father David taught Religion and English at St. Procopius Academy. During summers, he studied Educational Psychology at the University of Minnesota, from which he obtained a master’s degree in 1963. Over the next years, he continued his studies at the same school, earning a doctorate in 1970. In Lisle, Father David taught Education courses and for two years served as Director of Public Relations and Publications at the College. In 1974, he began four years as Illinois Benedictine College’s Dean of Academic Services. He then accepted a one-year posting as Vice President of St. Martin’s College, Lacey, Washington. While stationed on the West Coast, he fulfilled the requirements for the master of divinity degree from Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon. In 1981, Father David took up campus ministry work, first at the Newman Center on the Champaign campus of the University of Illinois (until 1988) and then at Illinois Benedictine College (1988-1993). From 1993, Father David, very articulate and well-read in matters pertaining to the Benedictine educational charism, assisted with work relating to institutional mission at the school, which became Benedictine University in 1996. To equip himself further for this role, he took up studies at Princeton Theological Seminary that allowed him to obtain a doctorate of ministry in 1996. He also held many positions in the monastery over the decades: Director of Oblates (mid-1970s-1981, and then from 2001-2021); editor of the Abbey’s News Quarterly (1975-1978, 1988-1990); Junior Master (1988-1991); and Librarian (2002-2004). His experience and range of knowledge led to many requests to serve on committees at the Abbey and University, and over the decades he frequently served as a retreat master. Physical ailments limited his mobility ever more in the 2010s, and at the end of 2020 he entered St. Patrick’s Residence. Please remember Father David in your prayers.
Abbot Austin Murphy, O.S.B. St. Procopius Abbey Lisle, IL