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Floyd Turley (1907-1986)

The Theodore Turley Family Book, pp. 229-232

Floyd Turley was born Dec. 30, 1907 in Chuichupa, Chihuahua, Mexico, a son of Hyrum and Pearl Sevey Turley. The family left Mexico the latter part of July, 1912 during the Mexican Revolution. Floyd remembers that they were having a party for his sister, Blanche’s, birthday, which is July 28, when a man rode up to their home to tell them the rebels were coming. He recalls how they turned the cattle out onto the ranges to find their feed, put the many cheeses they had made under the floor, also other valuables, such as pictures, and the children put their little red wagon in the chicken coop and shut the door. They were all hoping to return soon and find all their belongings still there.

Hyrum and the two older boys, Venus and Ivan, went into the mountains with guns to watch the rebels and secure their property again if possible. Previous to this they had sent the rest of the family by train to El Paso. The Salvation Army took care of the family in El Paso until Hyrum and the boys had decided that they could not save their property and had ridden into El Paso on their horses and located the rest of the family.

The family moved to Thatcher, Arizona for a few weeks, then went to Woodruff at the suggestion of Alma Turley, brother of Hyrum. Floyd has lived in Woodruff since that time except for the years spent on a mission in Texas and the two and a half years in Central America.

As a boy, Floyd liked to go with his father on the freight road. Many men in the area provided for their families by hauling supplies to Fort Apache. Later, Floyd helped his father by mixing mud for him to work at his trade of plastering. Floyd began to plaster along with his father when he was 14 or 15 years old. Later on, he and his father built houses together, and still later, Floyd and his brother, Edgar, were partners in building.

Floyd attended grade school in Woodruff, then went to one year of high school at Snowflake, then a year at the Holbrook High School. He spent his junior and senior years at Snowflake where he graduated. He and his sister, Blanche, and brother, George, roomed with their Uncle (Ted) Theodore Turley, paying for their room and much of their food by the boys chopping wood for their uncle and for other families. Floyd was called to the Mexican Mission in the fall of 1928 and spent 2 ½ years on this mission. Mexico would not allow missionaries to enter the country at this time, so the missionaries worked with the Mexican people living in the United States. All of this mission was spent in Texas.

Floyd married Olive Kemp, born Oct. 5, 1905 to John Henry and Annie Eliza Hyer Kemp, in the Logan Temple on Sept. 30, 1931. They established a home in Woodruff, Arizona. Six of their eight children were born at Woodruff and the last two were born in Holbrook.

Floyd was asked to be MIA president of the Woodruff Ward shortly after returning from his mission. About 1932 he was made ward clerk. In May, 1934 he was called to be Bishop and served until April of 1945. Shortly after his release he was called on a stake mission. He worked with Melvin Gardner among the Spanish speaking people of the stake for about a year, then worked with Nowlin Kartchner among the Apache Indians. He was called to be a High Councilman in 1947 and served on this council for 18 years. During much of this time the Snowflake Stake covered the area from McNary to Flagstaff, so he spent some long days making visits to the wards.

Floyd worked as maintenance supervisor of the Holbrook Public Schools from 1960 to 1970. He then went to Central America as a building supervisor for the LDS Church. He spent nine months in the city of San Salvador in El Salvador, then was sent to the city of Alajuela in Costa Rica where he spent almost fifteen months. He went to the city of Panama where he spent almost five months. He and his wife returned to Arizona on December 16, 1972. They decided to spend the coldest part of the winter in Mesa and returned to Woodruff March 17, 1973.

Olive Kemp Turley was born in Logan, Utah. In the summer of 1910 the family bought a farm in North Logan and moved to that locality. Olive went through the first seven grades of school at the North Logan School, then attended the Brigham Young College Training School for the eighth grade, so she could play violin in the school orchestra. She attended four years of high school at the Brigham Young College, then two years of normal school, from which she graduated in the spring of 1926. Playing with the BYC orchestra was the highlight of her younger years.

Olive taught school for the next three years, then left for a mission in June, 1929. She spent a few months in Oklahoma City, then the rest of her mission in Houston, Texas. It was while in Houston that she became acquainted with Floyd Turley, who was serving in the Mexican Mission.

Olive had grown up on a farm and decided to try her hand at gardening during the depression years, to help out with the needs of the family. This became quite a profitable hobby and helped very much while the family was growing up.

She has helped in most organizations in the Church, both in her younger years and after marriage. Three of Olive’s grandparents were born in England, and about 1952 she became interested in doing genealogical research in England through researchers there. It was while she was getting started with this hobby that a researcher asked if her husband’s people were of the Birmingham area in England, saying that a director of the company for which he worked was interested in the Turley name in that area and it was possible to obtain some material on that surname quite readily. With the permission of the president of the Theodore Turley Family Organization, she then began doing research on the Turley lines in England. Researching on one of her own lines in England and on the Turley lines has taken considerable time and thought, but it has been a very enjoyable part of her life since the early 1950's. She greatly appreciates the support of both her own family and the many members of the Turley family in this work.

In December, 1976 Olive, with Floyd as her assistant, was called to head the Branch Genealogical Library in the Holbrook Stake. This assignment takes considerable time but gives her an opportunity to pursue genealogy.