Yolo-Contra Costa County CA Obituary Project Obituaries.....TURKOVICH , Walter February 27 2004 ********************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/obits/ca/obitsca.htm ********************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Peggy B. Perazzo pbperazzo@comcast.net June 7, 2004, 4:32 pm "Winters Express," Thursday, March 4, 2004 Walter Turkovich Walter Turkovich passed away on Feb. 27, 2004, on the family farm near Winters. He was 85 years old. Born in Trinidad to an immigrant family from Croatia, he spent his childhood in Richmond. He had six older sisters and a twin brother. As a boy, he worked delivering newspapers and during the depression worked at silver mines in Nevada. He served four years in the Army during World War II and was stationed in the Aleutian Islands with a Coast Artillery Unit. Following the war he returned to Richmond and owned and operated a Union Oil service Station. He married Helen Hirth, started a family and built a house in El Sobrante. He enjoyed duck hunting and fishing with his friends and relatives all over California. In 1961 the family moved to Winters to farm the prune orchard that he and Helen had purchased three years earlier. Walt and Helen worked hard to expand their farming operation to include apricots, peaches and almonds, walnuts and kiwi fruit. He saw the farm operation grow from a labor intensive industry to a more mechanized operation through the use of mechanical harvesting equipment, drip irrigation, constantly improving the insect control measures, the irrigation techniques to produce top quality fruits and nuts. He was a member of Sunsweet Growers and was involved with other local growers of apricots and peaches in Royal Dryers, a fruit drying co-op. His son, Joe, returned to the farm in 1980 and gradually took over the farm management leaving Walter and Helen more time to travel. They visited Croatia, where he had relatives, other parts of Europe, Panama Canal, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Canada the U. S. and Alaska. He continued to enjoy fishing and spent many vacations at Silver Lake near Tahoe and at Bucks Lake in Plumas County. Walter was known for his friendly, jovial manner, his hunting and fishing stories and his hard work in building up the farming operation. He and Helen enjoyed entertaining large groups of relatives and friends for picnic barbecues during the spring, summer and fall. He was fond of his pet dogs and cats. More recently he enjoyed visiting older farmer friends who couldn’t get around much anymore. He is survived and will be greatly missed by his wife Helen; children and their spouses Rosanne and Jon Seitz of Grover Beach, Tony and Joan Turkovich of Winters, Marianne and Alan Pantle, of Ione, Joe Turkovich and Fred and Deborah Turkovich, all of Davis; grandchildren Ben, Roslyn and Natalie Seitz, Lorraine Sullivan, Kristin and Philip Pantle, Michael, Christopher and Daniel Turkovich and Elise and Avery Turkovich. Memorial Mass will be held at St. Anthony Catholic Church, Third and Main streets, on Friday, March 5, at 11 a.m. A reception will follow at St. Anthony Parish Hall. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 2680 N. Canton, Ohio, 44720; American Lung Association, 909 12th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814; The Abbey House food and clothing closet, 511 Main Street, Winters, CA 95694 or the charity of the donor's choice. Additional Comments: Submitted with the permission of the "Winters Express," 312 Railroad Ave., Winters, CA 95694. This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/caobfiles/ File size: 3.8 Kb