Lyman Ockington Turner was born Aug. 2, 1924, in Worcester, MA, to Dwight Lyman Turner and Ruth Conant Whitney. He died at the age of 83 in Hemet on July 25.

Lyman was raised in Jefferson, ME, with his three younger siblings. He graduated from Portland High School in June of 1942.

He graduated from the Navy’s Academy of the Air in Pensacola, FL, as ensign and pilot in September 1944 and served active duty time aboard carriers in the Atlantic area until June 1946.

Lyman met Marie, his future wife, in a roller skating rink in Buffalo, NY, in 1948. They were married in February 1949.

Lyman went back into the service for the US Navy in 1954 for training as pilot in "lighter than air" and graduated in November 1954 at Brunswick, GA.

He had 11 years and eight months of service time in the US Navy Air Corps when he retired without pay as lieutenant after moving to Anza.

From 1956 to 1960, Lyman and Marie operated a business known as Century Helicopter Service, where they overhauled and repaired rotor blades, both main and tail, for customers from as far away as the Philippines.

From 1960 to 1962, Lyman worked as experimental technician for Houston-Fearless Corp on missile ground support development and during a slow period in 1962 the family had an offer to manage a recreational ranch, Hidden Valley Ranch, in Anza.

Lyman and his family stayed at the ranch as manager for one year and then moved into Anza, where he started working for a contractor in Idyllwild.

After one year he began his own remodel and repair business in Anza, which he continued for the next 44 years, working on many homes and meeting many new community members.

Lyman filled an unexpired term of two years as a member of the board of directors for the Anza Electric Co-op in 1964 and 1965. He also served the community for 25-plus years with the Anza Volunteer Fire Company.

He also served on the Anza Civic Improvement League and the Anza Community Hall and spent nearly 45 years working on the Anza Mutual Water Company as a board member and as the repair and maintenance person.

Lyman is preceded in death by his wife of 44 years, H. Marie Lapczenski Turner (1993), and his parents.

He is survived by son Wayne W. Turner (Charlene), Pocatello, ID; daughter Lynne M. Jackson (Fletcher), Prescott Valley, AZ; granddaughter Shawna L. Stewart (Donald), Fenton, MO; brother Ralph W. Turner (Hazel), Hollis Center, ME; sisters Jeannette B. Hemingway, Jefferson, ME, and D. Amy Alexander (Thomas), Silver Springs, MD; sister-in-law and brother-in-law Cecilia and Richard Pelky, Duanesbury, NY; brothers-in-law Joseph and Robert Lapczenski; stepbrother C. Don Ostrander, Orofino, ID; and numerous nieces and nephews.