Stanley Gifford Turner was born in March 1938 and raised on his family's farm in Kelowna, B.C. He completed an undergraduate degree in Geology, and married his high school sweetheart in 1961, the year he enrolled in law school at the University of British Columbia. He graduated in 1964 and began practice in Vancouver, but soon relocated from the stress of the big city to start his own small town practice. The Turner family settled in Princeton, B.C. in 1968 and Stanley Turner's practice became a town mainstay over the next 49 years.
During his nearly 5 decades in practice, Mr. Turner embodied what a small town lawyer should be. He had a strong handle on an incredible variety of issues including poverty law, assaults, agricultural zoning, family law, taxation, and personal injury, to name a few. Perhaps the most adequate appraisal of Turner as a lawyer came from Judge G.G. Sinclair at Turner's last monthly Provincial circuit Court on April 7th, 2016. Speaking of Turner, Judge Sinclair said "This town, the bar, and the court have lost an icon. Stanley Turner was, as one of my clerks characterized it, the last of the gentleman lawyers. He was a wonder man, a wonderful lawyer, and always practiced his profession to the highest standard expected of the bar."
Stanley Turner loved the Similkameen Valley around Princeton and enjoyed recreating there with his family. He founded the Snow Patch Ski Hill, a short drive from downtown Princeton, and cherished annual fishing and camping outings with his family on the Kettle River. He was great fan of sports and an adamant supporter of the Princeton Posse Junior B hockey team.
Stanley Gifford Turner passed away shortly after his retirement from practice in 2016. He is remembered as a kind, generous and honourable man who deeply loved his family, and who was an integral part of the community of Princeton for nearly 50 years.
For more, read the Nos Disparus for Stanley Gifford Turner from The Advocate, 74 (2016)