Factiva

NORFOLK

James A. Turner Jr. made history when he was barely a teenager.

Turner was among a handful of blacks to integrate Norfolk's public schools in 1959, often wading into a sea of hostile white faces.

Afterward, he would be known as one of the "Norfolk 17."

Turner, who died Monday at the age of 57, didn't talk much about that turbulent time.

"He was quiet and reserved," said his sister Patricia, another member of the Norfolk 17, "but highly intelligent and very helpful to everyone."

To his sister, "he was my best friend... someone I could turn to and talk to."

To his mother, he gave his final 10 years, living with her and tending to her needs after his father died.

Before that, he served as associate director and then director of affirmative action at the University of Kansas.

"He helped many, many students to enter and then complete college," Patricia Turner said.

His own education began in the early 1950s, before the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education, when schools in the United States were segregated.

Turner and his sister attended Norview Middle School, then Norview High School. Turner graduated from Howard University in Washington, with a degree in political science.

He later did graduate work at Central Michigan University and the University of Kansas.

Turner was divorced but stayed close to his ex-wife, his sister said. "He's always been there for his sons" - a graphic designer and lawyer - she said.

James Turner left the University of Kansas in 1991 and returned to Hampton Roads.

"He was OK with that," his sister said.

"He'd tell you he was working since he was 5," Patricia Turner said, "delivering the Journal and Guide," Norfolk's black-owned grass-roots weekly newspaper.

"He was ready."

Turner also had a passion for gardening, his sister said. That's what he was doing Monday, when he suffered a stroke and a heart attack, trimming his mother's trees.

"He was a very caring, giving person," Patricia Turner said.

"He shared all of himself with everyone."

Reach Philip Walzer at 222-5105 or phil.walzer pilotonline.co

Caption: fact box James A. Turner Jr. 1946 - 2003 During the 1950s, as a member of the Norfolk 17, James A. Turner Jr. was one of the first students to integrate the city's public schools.

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