In tribute: Longtime educator cared about the details

Jim Turner cared about the details, and he cared about people as well. Friends said local education, and eastern New Mexico at large, were better for both of those reasons.

Turner, who served as president and nearly anything else you could name at Clovis Community College over more than 30 years in education, died Jan. 22 after suffering from Parkinson’s Disease.

A voluminous resume started while Turner was attending Portales High School, where he was selected as a Boys State representative in his junior year. After his graduation from the University of New Mexico in 1956, he joined the U.S. Navy. Once that four-year commitment was over, Turner moved throughout the nation to sharpen his business skills, but decided he’d find fulfillment in education.

He started with CCC long before it was CCC, as he was hired in 1969 to help open the new Eastern New Mexico University branch campus in Clovis. He oversaw numerous milestones for CCC, from its initial operation at the former Eugene Field Elementary to its move to its current location on 25 acres of land donated by Ervin Schepps to the narrow 1990 vote to break from ENMU and become Clovis Community College.

Former CCC President Becky Rowley first came to know Turner when she was an instructor. Turner, she said, was one of those administrators who frequently checked in with employees to see how they were doing. She remembered him telling unverified but entertaining stories of drinking with Ernest Hemingway and his participation in the Running of the Bulls, and that he always told her to make time for exercise because it wouldn’t get done otherwise.

Looking back, she noted Turner’s attention to the CCC budget helped the college afford things other community colleges couldn’t despite having a lower mill rate than most.

“He’s had an indelible imprint on Clovis Community College,” Rowley said. “Everybody knew it. He’s really the engineer of the campus as we know it today. A lot of the systems that were in place when he was there allowed us to grow.”

Over nearly 30 years at ENMU-Clovis and CCC, his positions included campus director, business manager, vice president of administration, and finally president. He served as interim president between the June 1998 retirement of Jay Gurley, and the February 1999 hiring of Beverlee McClure. In addition, Turner insisted on teaching a class every year as personal fulfillment and service to the college and its students.

Turner retired from CCC that June, but found his way back into the fold at ENMU-Roswell later that year and at New Mexico Junior College in 2000, serving as interim vice president of finance at each location.

Turner was a member of the Clovis Rotary Club for more than 30 years and served the city as Ethnic Fair secretary.

honors included a 2007 induction into UNM’s Anderson School of Management Hall of Fame, the 2010 Heart award from the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce and a 2009 ceremony in which CCC named its business services center after him.

In Tribute is a regular feature. To suggest an honoree, contact Kevin Wilson at 575-763-6991 or by e-mail:

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