Donal Ray Turner's firefighter's badge number was 004. That he had one of Fort Worth's first badge numbers indicates how long ago he joined the Fire Department, relatives say.
In his early days, he served on the fire rescue team and as a ladder truck driver for the downtown fire station. Whenever his truck was called to emergencies, he was always at the top of the ladder, family members said.
But refer to him as a hero, and he'd scoff.
"He would not be one to say he was brave," his daughter Cathy Fowler said. "And the guys he worked with were all the same."
Mr. Turner died Wednesday at his Burleson home from complications of lung cancer. He was 66.
Mr. Turner was born and raised in the north side of Fort Worth. He served in the Air Force as a policeman, then became a firefighter in 1961 because it was a stable job with benefits.
He worked in the Fire Department for 33 years, first at the downtown station and later at the station off South Hulen Street.
He was among the first to sign up for the fire rescue, dive and hazardous materials teams, relatives said.
Mr. Turner was devoted to his grandchildren, Fowler said.
"He would sit on the tailgate of his pickup truck and eat peanuts with them," she said. He also enjoyed playing tricks on them.
"He was a prankster," she recalled.
When his son went camping with friends when they were teen-agers, Mr. Turner climbed a tree and watched over them to make sure they were safe.
"And once in a while, he'd make animal sounds and chuck rocks to see how mad we could get stirred," said his now-grown son, John Turner.
Mr. Turner's love of pranks stemmed from his years with firefighters, who often played them on one another during their 24-hour shifts, John Turner said.
During his last days, about 100 friends from the Fire Department as well as the Burleson Masonic Lodge, the American Legion Post 549 and the Moslah Shriners of Fort Worth, came to pay their respects, Fowler said. Mr. Turner belonged to the three clubs.
"He was real old-time Texas," John Turner said. "There was a basic way of life that he saw as right: Treat people right. Do what you can."
Other survivors include his wife of 46 years, Ruth; brothers Bob Turner of Houston and Gary Turner of Burleson; and five grandchildren.
10 a.m. today at Mountain Valley Funeral Home Chapel, Burleson. Burial will be at Laurel Land Memorial Park, Fort Worth. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Mr. Turner's name to Cancer Education and Research Foundation of Texas, 800 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth TX 76104.
Distributed by the Associated Press
