Tommie B. Turner of Poquoson, Virginia, passed away peacefully in her sleep on March 3, 2025. She had been a resident of The Newport Nursing and Rehabilitation Center since December 2022 after suffering a massive stroke. She was 98 years old.
Violet Ruth Baugh was born in McKinney, Texas, on September 23, 1926, the youngest of four children. She was preceded in death by her siblings and by her husband, USAF Lt. Col. (Ret.) Marion R. Turner, Jr. A proud and patriotic member of “The Greatest Generation,” her passing marks the end of an era for her family and friends.
As a child, she was a “tomboy,” playing outdoors, climbing trees, and enjoying schoolyard games. Her family started calling her “Tommie,” and she kept that nickname for the rest of her life. She attended elementary, middle, and high school in McKinney and was a popular and active student. She participated in many school activities, including art classes, choir, and yearbook. She and her sisters, Olga and
Corinne, had beautiful voices and formed a trio emulating the Andrews Sisters, performing popular songs of the 1940s. A blonde, blue-eyed beauty with a vivacious personality, Tommie never lacked for friends and boyfriends.
In 1943, she met the love of her life, a tall, handsome soldier named Marion Turner, and her life was changed forever. Marion had attended Southern Methodist University but left school to serve his country as a pilot in World War II. Shortly after meeting Tommie, he was assigned to “The Mighty Eighth” Army Air Corps in England. He flew 24 bomber missions over Hitler’s Germany and 7 humanitarian “Chowhound” missions that brought food to the starving people of Holland. He and Tommie conducted their courtship through letters, and when he returned to Texas in 1945, they were married in Galveston.
For the first years of her marriage, Tommie led the nomadic life of a military wife. During 1947–1951, Marion was a nuclear weaponeer at Sandia Base in Albuquerque. They had two daughters, Toni and Patricia, and she was a loving and devoted mother. She continued her art lessons and became an accomplished artist. She also developed a talent for interior design. In 1951, the family transferred to Dayton, Ohio, where Marion was stationed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Tommie studied at the Dayton Art Institute and won awards for her work in watercolor and pastels. She enrolled the girls in dancing school, led a Brownie troop, and made a warm and lovely home for her family. She provided her daughters with unforgettable birthday celebrations, and at Christmas, the house glowed with her beautiful decorations.
Marion was next stationed at the Pentagon and at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. During 1959–1962, he served as an Air Attaché at the American Embassy in London. During the family’s tour of duty in the UK, Tommie continued to develop as an artist, took up flower arranging, and began collecting English antiques. She designed the Embassy’s Christmas card for two years and won First Prize and Honorable Mention awards in the London Flower Show. The family returned to the DC area when Marion was again stationed at the Pentagon. Tommie became a highly successful interior designer in the Washington area. The couple purchased and renovated an 18th-century house in Old Town Alexandria and became leaders in the preservation movement, helping to save many historic buildings. They traveled extensively through the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Egypt and collected antiques and decorative items on their numerous trips.
The family moved to Poquoson when Marion was transferred to Langley Air Force Base. They renovated an 1832 farmhouse at 86 Hunts Neck Road and purchased several additional acres of property on Lyons Creek. After Marion retired from his highly distinguished career as an intelligence officer, the couple returned to their native Texas for a few years. But their hearts remained in Poquoson, and in 1980, they returned and built their dream house, Turner’s Cove, on the waterfront. Tommie’s gift for interior design was evident in every room. The home was a showplace of exquisite taste and artistic talent, inside and out. Marion loved gardening and landscaping, and Tommie reveled in the birds and wildlife of the area. Marion served on the School Board and helped establish a chapter of the American Legion. Tommie enjoyed a successful stint at Pilgrim House Interior Design Gallery and was a founder and the first Board President of the Poquoson Museum. They traveled the world, served their community, and enjoyed good times with family and friends. Their Poquoson home represented the culmination of a lifetime dedicated to the love of country, military service, family values, volunteer engagement, and personal achievement.
Tommie and Marion celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in September 2010 and he passed away 3 months later. Tommie continued to live in her lovely waterside home with her beloved cats and birds until she suffered a stroke in November 2021. Although The Newport staff took excellent care of her for the next 3 years, she always missed being at home in Turner’s Cove. Her family installed a feeder outside her window at The Newport so she could continue to watch the birds she loved so much.
Anyone who met Tommie knew that they were in the presence of a very special person. She was admired for her personal warmth and her sharp wit. She was known as “Mom Tom” to several friends who looked upon her as a surrogate mother. Her nieces and nephew adored her, and she adored them. Her memory will linger in the hearts of all who knew her. She is survived by her eldest daughter, Toni, and her husband, Jim Bruseth, of Austin and Santa Fe, and by her youngest daughter, Patricia, who lives in Camden, Arkansas. Tommie will be laid to rest next to her husband in Arlington National Cemetery.
The family expresses deep appreciation to the staff of The Newport Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for their kindness, care, and emotional support during Tommie’s residency. The family also requests that in honor of Tommie’s love for animals and birds, memorial donations be made to the following charities: The Cat Corner, 85 Fulton Street, Hampton, VA 23663; Peninsula SPCA, 523 J. Clyde Morris Blvd., Newport News, VA 23601; or the Hampton Roads Bird Club, C/O John Adair, Treasurer, 109 Nansemond Turn, Yorktown, VA 23693.
