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- [S113] Manes Funeral Home, (http://www.manesfuneralhome.com), 14 May 2007.
Edward C. "Ed" Turner obituary
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 25 Nov 2007.
Pale wood smoke capped by cold layers of air turned leaf-bare limbs into a crowd of quiet apparitions illuminated by the new moon on Saturday over our hometown.
Of two very different events at churches last week, they ran the spectrum of emotions from happy to sad and within a 100 yards of each other separated in time only by a couple of days along Lincoln Avenue.
Many of you attended the groundbreaking for the 978-seat worship center for Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church last Sunday afternoon with temperatures in the mid 70s and a large crowd on hand. Before the ceremony, I chatted with Jack Suggs, who has been involved in the church and community for many years. He has been a little under the weather since then. Perhaps it was through the Newport Lions Club that I first met him. He doesn't look his years, 77, and provided me with a glimpse of his family. One of the Plain Talk columnists from years past is a relative. You may have been a reader of Mack Suggs' Manning Chapel News.
Jack's father was Misher Suggs, mostly called "M.M." and a brother to Earnest, who is the father of Willis Suggs, of Mister Automotive. Misher's brothers also included Lowery, Maurice, and Ike, and sister, Ollie. His family raised Jack in the Baltimore/Long Creek area but they moved to Newport early in World War II. The other siblings were his brother, John David, the late half-brother, Charles, and sister, Pauline Lawson. Charles was killed during the war. After graduation from Cocke County High School, Jack joined the Air Force and served three years in Germany. He had the unusual job as a wartime cryptographer. Jack was in his early 20s when he went to work at American Enka, later to be BASF. He married Shirley (Turner), who was a sister to the late Ed Turner, race truck operator and Newport businessman. In 1991, Jack retired from BASF after 38 years and has used his time to help others, whether through Lions or the church where he is deacon and a member of the building committee. They have three boys: Chris, who is in electronics; Gregg, with Sonoco Products; and Bryan, an accountant in Kingsport. Shirley worked for many years with dentist, Dr. Redmon. Today, Jack says he also enjoys some crappy fishing.
By Friday afternoon the highs were only in the upper 30s outside First Methodist Church for the funeral of our longtime friend and good physician, Dr. Fred M. Valentine Jr. Few people were ready to hear that he died unexpectedly in the afternoon on Tuesday. I heard he had a kidney removed days prior and never got his strength back. Those who I interviewed referred to him as a great friend, visionary, professional. He was wealthy yet generous and not pretentious or a conspicuous consumer. As Judge John Bell observed, while we talked sitting in the chapel, Doc's father and mother raised him to be mindful of his resources and a good steward. I found Dr. Valentine always to be courteous, astute, willing to support a worthy cause, never petty, a mentor and leader. As a young reporter, my first recollection of Doc was in the mid 1970s, when he as mayor led the groundbreaking for the new Cosby Highway. He has made news ever since in a positive way and that has been good for Newport.
I told Judge Bell that I had not seen or heard from his father, Frank Bell, lately. It seems that several weeks ago pastor Bell was riding his lawnmower when it snagged a root and overturned. The mower came back on top of Frank, who escaped the whirling blades. He did suffer injury to his back and is recuperating.
In the past days I have noticed a midnight blue Cadillac around Newport and finally managed to bump into the owner. Lo, Russell Ball is a neighbor to Plain Talk Adv. Director Betty McMillan. The car is a 1993 Sedan de Ville model he purchased new for about $27,000 in Morristown. Russell said he had owned Pontiacs and Buicks but decided around July that year to look at Caddys. The car has 137,000 miles and looks new. I found out that his father was Forrest Ball, of Irish Cut, and Jack's brothers are Roger Ball, who is a deputy, Billy, Harland, and Lynn. Their sister is Wanda Southerland, who retired with some of you from Electro-Voice. Russell mentioned he saw me at the Parrottsville picnic. His mother was Inez Campbell from that community. Russell married the former Betty Wise about 1976, but they did not move to their current home near Douglas Lake until 1987. He worked through most of the 1970s at Wall Tube, got laid off, and joined Roger to do construction work in New York. Jack returned to Newport in 1985, and worked at Falcon Products until 2002. Heart problems caused him to retire early. He makes time to visit friends and gets exercise walking his pet bulldog, Sparky. If you see a shiny four-door Caddy, flag him down and you will get a luxury ride from a good fellow.
In plain talk, life is a wonderful ride for those on the right side of the road.
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Abt 1930 - (~ 94 years)