THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH, Thursday, September 14, 1950, pages 1A & 6A (Photo with original) JUDGE TURNER RITES TO BE HELD SATURDAY Funeral of Judge Edward C. Turner of the Ohio Supreme Court will be held Saturday at 2 p. m at Schoedinger's chapel, 229 E. State St. The Rev. Dr. Frank Throop, pastor of Central Presbyterian Church, will officiate. Friends may call at the funeral home after 2 p. m. Friday. Burial will be in Green Lawn Cemetery. Death of of Judge Turner Wednesday afternoon is expected to result in a write in election Nov. 7 to fill the vacancy on the Ohio Supreme Court. Judge Turner, who was 78, had been ill for more than a month. He was stricken with a cerebral hemorrhage Aug. 9, the day he arrived in Honolulu with Mrs. Turner for a two- month visit in the Hawaiian Islands. He was flown from Honolulu to Grant Hospital here on Sept. 3. At his bedside when he died at 3:10 p. m. were is his wife, Mrs. Nan Jahn Turner and his son, Carl R. [illegible line] Columbus attorney. To fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court, Governor Lausche is expected to name a suc- cessor. But to serve beyond the Nov. 7 election, the appointee will be required to wage a write-in campaign. Judge Turner, who resided at 4309 W. Broad St. had been a member of the State Supreme Court since 1940. In addition to serving as Franklin county Common Pleas Judge, he was twice elected attorney general of Ohio and once sought the Republican nomination for Governor. Governor Lausche said: "Judge Turner in his judicial capacity rendered extraordinary service for the people of the state of Ohio. He was objective and fair in the disposi- tion of the [illegible line] "We have lost a good public servant and I mourn with the people of Ohio in the passing of a good man." Chief Justice Carl V. Weygandt of the Ohio Supreme Court said: "In the passing of Judge Turner this court and the people of Ohio have lost a capable, conscientious and hard-working judge. He will be greatly missed by those of us who have had the opportunity to work with him through the years." Judge Edward S. Matthias said: "Judge Turner was a high minded, impartial and courage- ous judge. He had a keen, logical mind which went direct to the merits of every case presented. He abhorred sham (Continued on Page 6, Col. 1) JUDGE TURNER, 78, TAKEN BY DEATH (continued from Page 1) which he unerringly detected and exposed in clear and forceful statement. "Judge Turner was independent in his thinking and action, holding firm convictions and possessed not only the ability but also the courage to state them fairly and frankly." Judge Turner was born in Columbus March 26, 1872, the son of Robert M. and Jane Crawford Turner. He lived his entire life in Columbus. A graduate of the Ohio State University college of law in 1903, he had worked his way through both public school and the university. As a boy he sold newspapers, and often liked to tell stories of his experience in sell- ing papers. He entered the private practice of law after graduating from Ohio States. Within a relatively short time he had gained wide recognition in his private practice. In 1910 Judge Turner was elected Franklin County prosecutor. And within three months af- ter he took office he was engaged in one of the biggest prosecution cases in the state's history. It had been revealed that there was considerable bribery in the General Assembly. The late Atty. Gen. Timothy Hogan and Prosecutor Turner took charge of the state's case. As a result of their efforts, five legislators were indicted and four were convicted and sent to prison. Hogan was a Democrat. Turner was a Republican, making the prosecution bi-partisan. Men from both parties were prosecuted in the widely publicized cases. Success of the Hogan-Turner team resulted in Turner's being returned to the prosecutor's office for a second term. This success came despite the Republican-Progressive split of 1912 that wrought general havoc in GOP ranks that year. During his second term Judge Turner prosecuted several Democrats who had Collected "con- tributions" from civil service employees in violation of law. Consequently, his reputation spread widely throughout the state. In 1914 he was elected attorney general to succeed Hogan. In 1916, however, he was defeated in the Woodrow Wil- son national landslide which carried Democrats to victory. For the next decade he engaged in private practice. In 1926 he was again elected attor- ney general. It was a bitter campaign. Both the Anti-Saloon League and public utilit- ies opposed him. Back in office, he exposed the iniquities of the two lobbies in the General Assembly. In 1928, Judge Turner was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor. In the hot three-cornered fight for the GOP nomination for Governor, Turner was opposed by the Anti-Saloon League, which charged he had received a $200,000 fee in connection with litigation involving the old Columbus Railway, Power & Light Co. Judge Turner, in typical frank manner replied to the charge that the fee had been $300,000 and not $200,000. During the early 1930's he was chief counsel for the Ohio Fuel Gas Co. He served in the famous Columbus gas case, which was in litigation for many years. In 1939, following the death of Common Pleas Judge Harold L. Kime, Gov. John W. Briker named Judge Turner to the vacancy. In the subsequent primary, however, he was defeated for the Republican nomination for common pleas judge by Judge Joseph M. Clifford, who succeeded him on the bench. Governor Bricker then named Judge Turner to the Ohio Supreme Court to fill the unexpired term of the late Judge George S. Myers. In the following election he was elected, and was re-elected to full terms in 1943 and 1949. He was a 33rd degree Mason, a member of the Columbus Club and the Columbus Lodge of Elks. In later years Judge Turner liked to travel. He and Mrs. Turner had visited Russia and Scandinavia, circled South America and numerous places in the U. S. He was regarded in the legal profession as a man of pleasant dignity. But at the same time he was known as one who could quickly turn into a firey debater. And once having set a course, Judge Turner pursued it fully and relentlessly. He was widely known for his great capacity for work. Because of his death, the flag over the State House flew at half-mast Thursday. Judge Turner's serious illness cased the secretary of state to hold up certification of the Nov. 7 judicial ballot. This was necessary to prevent a wholesale reprinting to pro- vide blank space for write-in candidate.