“He smoked from then until age 24 when he married my mother,” said Huiest.
He sadly picked the bad habit [b]ack up during his business travels to London in the ’90s, though his daughter recalled he never smoked in their home and encouraged them not to follow in his footsteps.
“He knew how much the family did not like it, and he was vocal while we were growing up that smoking was bad and to never start,” she shared.
While Turner was well aware of how dangerous his habit was, his daughter says he never truly tried to quit.
“He discussed trying to quit last summer with my mom (before his diagnosis), but didn’t put forth much effort at all,” said Huiest.
Her mom frequently tried to get him to stop, but he was very strong-willed and decided to go his own way.
Despite some of the poor choices he made while he was alive, Huiest is truly proud of her dad’s courage in penning this important final message that is now helping so many.
“My father prided himself on his many entrepreneurial ventures, various business successes, and world travels,” she said. “Those are the things I expected to read in his obituary. I never expected it to be what it was and it is this single act from his life that I am most proud of. Someone told me he was changing his legacy with this obituary, and I couldn’t agree more.”