Joseph Turner

Joseph Grant Turner

Our beloved Joseph Grant Turner — Joe, Dad, Grandpa, Grandpa Joe, Grandpa Great, President Turner, Dr. Turner — returned to his Heavenly Father on September 25, 2025, surrounded by his greatest joy: his family. He was 88 years old.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Sherri; their six children: Jeff (Laura), Cory, Sheia (Byran) Korth, Mark (Kim), Shereece (Dan) Seegmiller, and RuthAnn (Jonathan) Gibbs; 20 grandchildren (5 with spouses); and 4 great-grandchildren; and sisters: Judy Bastien, and Joyce Bee. He is preceded in death by his parents, Grant and Gladys Turner, and his sister and brother-in-law, Patricia and Mark Scott.

Joe was born in Elko, Nevada, in 1937, the son of Grant and Gladys Turner. He grew up in the shadow of the Ruby Mountains trapping, hunting, and camping. His adventurous spirit carried a proud pioneer heritage, descended from faithful ancestors who ventured from Scotland and England to cross the plains with the Martin Handcart Company. Named after his grandfather Joseph and his father Grant, he lived a life of faith, adventure, and devotion.

Joe met the love of his life, Sherri Lee Biddulph, at Brigham Young University. “She was too good of a friend to date,” he once said, but after attending their first football game together in 1961, he never dated anyone else. They were sealed in the Los Angeles Temple on May 31, 1962 and spent 63 happy years side by side on this earth. Joe’s life was defined by his love for Sherri. He often said he was “so glad she married me,” and he built his life around her joy and happiness. Their marriage is one of deep friendship, fierce devotion, and unwavering faith — a partnership that not only blessed their six children but firmly established an anchor for generations of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. How wonderful it is to know that because of priesthood ordinances and covenants made, this marriage will last into the eternities. Joe often said that his greatest accomplishments were not in his profession, but in “Sherri, my children, and my grandchildren. They are what I am most proud of.”

Joe earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Brigham Young University before moving with Sherri to Laie, Hawaii to take a teaching position at Church College of Hawaii for two years. In 1968, after the birth of his first two children, Joe moved his young family back East to complete a Ph.D. at Penn State University. In 1970, they moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, where he spent more than 30 years as a professor of Child Development, Family Relations, and Marriage and Family Therapy at Colorado State University. He earned multiple Teacher of the Year awards, but remained humble, always quick to shift attention from himself to his students or family. Concurrent to his academic career, Joe also volunteered in the U.S. Forest Service, led fire crews, trained rescuers, directed search and rescue, and served as a deputy sheriff — a life of both scholarship and rugged service.

Joe’s faith anchored every chapter of his life. As a young man, he served a mission in Brazil, where he gained a lifelong love for the Portuguese language and Brazilian people. Later, he and Sherri returned to Brazil together as mission leaders from 2000-2003, leading over 400 young missionaries. Joe also served as bishop twice, as a counselor in the stake presidency, and as a sealer in the Denver and Fort Collins temples — he joyfully performed the sealings of three of his grandchildren to their spouses. Though these callings came and went, Joe’s most favored and important call was his role as husband, father, grandfather, and minister of Christ.

Joe and Sherri were beloved members of the Fort Collins, Colorado community for 55 years before moving to Springville, Utah in May 2025 to be closer to family. Joe loved the outdoors— skiing, camping, backpacking, hunting, fishing, and working with his hands. His love for the beauty and peace of the mountains led him and Sherri to build a beautiful cabin in Gould, Colorado in 2004, where moose and other wildlife often wandered by, and where generations of family memories were made.

Gentle, funny, wise, and faithful, Joe leaves behind a legacy of love, hard work, valiant service, and devotion to God. His wife, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will remember him in every mountain critter, every mountain sunrise, and every family gathering. His grandchildren will always remember his plaid shirts, Levi’s jeans, silly catchphrases, “Happy Birthday” calls in Portuguese, and his warm “Oh, hello!” that greeted them at every visit.

Funeral services will be held Friday, October 3, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. MST at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel located at 760 North 400 East, Springville, Utah. A viewing will precede the service from 9:30-10:45 a.m. MST. Interment will follow at the Heber City Cemetery.

Services will be live-streamed at:
https://youtube.com/live/CRiY00yx49Q?feature=share.

Condolences may be expressed online at www.bergmortuary.com.

As he once said, “I would like to be remembered for loving the Lord and my family.” And indeed, he will be. He is deeply loved and tenderly missed.

“To take the sorrow out of death is to take the love out of life.” – President Russell M. Nelson

In lieu of flowers, you may donate to the General Missionary Fund of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.