Deceased June 12, 2021

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In Memory

Ray Turner, our class co-president, died in a motor vehicle accident June 12, 2021, two weeks after we last met.

Ray came to Amherst from Brooklyn’s Midwood High School, which he commuted to by subway from Bed-Stuy along with two of my grade school classmates, Marty Seham ’54 and Fuzzy Fendrick ’54. We bonded very early, leading to 70-plus years of friendship.

During undergraduate years, the fraternity system treated him cruelly. Despite which he loved Amherst, at Phi Gam, we invited him to live in the fraternity house as a “social member”—to this day I am humiliated that in our youth we lacked courage to challenge the “national” by pledging him.

Ray was a biology major, received his “54” for crew, associate manager of the glee club and a member of the pre-med club.

From Amherst, Ray went to Yale Medical School and completed a residency in internal medicine interrupted by two years with the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, studying radiation effects in Hiroshima. I still treasure the souvenirs he brought us from Japan. On his return to residency, Ray met Maria Lourdes Chanco. Norma and I attended their wedding in New Haven 57 years ago.

Ray started practice with group health while acquiring an MPH from Johns Hopkins. He gravitated to medical administration, ending up as CMO of Carefirst Blue Cross Blue Shield while teaching medical students at Hopkins and George Washington.

Surviving Ray are Maria, a distinguished dermatologist; daughter Melissa Turner M.D. (Eric De Jonge M.D.); son Nicholas (Theresa Trzaskoma); grandchildren Nathaniel ’21, Maya, Wiley and Malcolm; and sister Judy (Vann Kinkle Jones M.D., deceased). He was also predeceased by his brother Clyde Turner M.D. (whose son William M.D. is ’94).

Ray loved classical music, ikebana and was a member of the Cosmos Club.

Sayonara, dear friend!

Hank Tulgan ’54