Henry Van Turner

Henry Van Turner went to be with his Lord and Savior on Saturday, September 12, 2026, at the age of 78, following a long, hard-fought battle with cancer and a final, sudden bout with pneumonia. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Marjorie Sadler Turner; his three children, daughter Meredith Turner Everhart (Skip), son Gregory Van Turner (Susan), and son Bryan Sadler Turner; four grandchildren, Garrett Van Turner (Valerie), Hannah Grace Everhart, Emma Katherine Everhart, and Allison Kate Turner; his constant companion of the last 13 years, his dog Jake; and countless other family members and friends who will all tell you that he was the sweetest man they ever met. He was preceded in death by his father, Henry Turner, and his mother, Doris Putnam Turner.

Van Turner was born on November 22, 1947, and raised in Burlington, North Carolina. His personality was larger-than-life, and he was a force to be reckoned with from a very early age. He grew up playing baseball, basketball, and football, and was a star football player at Western Alamance High School, where he was eventually inducted into the school's Sports Hall of Fame, before attending UNC on a football scholarship. Margie was an athlete in high school too, and he first started flirting with her by asking to tape her ankles for basketball games. Although they didn’t date in high school, they began dating afterward when he went to Carolina, and she was in nursing school at Watts School of Nursing in Durham, and they have been the inseparable loves of each other's lives ever since. They were married on August 24, 1968, at Stoney Creek Presbyterian Church, and then built a family, with her as a nurse and him as a football coach, driver’s education instructor, and history teacher.

Van loved sports, but he loved his family even more, and he touched more lives than most people could ever dream of doing. He was a dedicated man of God, an ordained deacon, and a long-time member of both People’s Memorial Christian Church and The Lamb’s Chapel. He was a fierce protector, an amazing friend, and he never met a stranger. Whether you were a childhood friend, one of the thousands of students he taught over more than 40 years at Western Alamance High School, Eastern Guilford High School, or other locations in North Carolina or Virginia, someone he went to church with or sang in the choir with, a virtual stranger who he only met once or twice, or one of the very lucky ones who got to call him Daddy or PawPaw, Van Turner left a lasting impression on your life. You will never forget him, and neither will we.

Van’s visitation will be at Lowe Funeral Home, Burlington, NC, from 12:30 pm until 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, with his celebration of life service given by Rev. Ashley Rainey immediately following at 2 p.m. in the chapel at Lowe’s, and a private graveside service following the funeral at Stoney Creek Presbyterian Church.