- Date Of Birth: January 24, 1951
- Date Of Death: October 7, 2019
- State: Texas
Zemly Lou Turner, 68, of Belton, Texas went to be with the Lord on October 7, 2019, due to complications associated with Parkinson’s Disease.
Zemly Lou was born in Port Arthur, Texas on January 24, 1951, to Horace E. and Fannie Courtney Turner. Zemly was named after her maternal grandmother. She had two older brothers Max Rue and Edward Hugh. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Port Arthur and accepted Christ as her Savior as a teenager. Zemly graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1968. Zemly moved to Belton to attend Mary Hardin-Baylor where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work in 1971.
Zemly’s gift and passion was caring for the people around her. She made helping people, especially children, her life’s work. Zemly began her career as a social worker for the State of Georgia working with rural families receiving welfare benefits. She had many stories of the adventures she had there. Zemly then returned to Texas in 1978 to be an Adoption Specialist for the Edna Gladney Center in Fort Worth. During her 20 years there, Zemly placed hundreds of babies from the US and East Asia into loving adoptive families. Many of the adoptive families continued to thank Zemly by sending her updates and pictures of the children as they grew into beautiful adults.
Zemly continued her education by earning her Master’s Degree in Counseling from Dallas’s Amber University in 1998. Zemly was then named as the Director of The Pregnancy Lifeline in Fort Worth. She counseled, and trained volunteers to counsel, girls and families faced with unplanned pregnancies giving them the faith and courage to choose life.
Desiring to be near family, Zemly moved back to Belton in 2004. She worked as a child and adolescent counselor at Cedar Crest, Metroplex Pavilion and Lone Star Circle of Care. Zemly enjoyed time with her family, flower gardening, and bird watching. When she was asked what she wanted to do for Christmas or where she wanted to go on vacation, Zemly almost always said, “It doesn’t matter as long as I am with y’all.” Zemly retired in 2017 as the physical and mental effects of Parkinson’s Disease became an insurmountable hurdle.
Zemly is survived and missed by her sister-in-law Rita Turner of Temple, niece Debbi and husband Michael Barkley of Belton, nephew David and Barbara Turner of Yuba City, California, great-nieces Elizabeth and Jon Graham of Belton, Grace Turner of Yuba City, California, and numerous cousins in and around Walker, Louisiana.
