John D. Turner ’60

John D. Turner ’60 of Lincoln, Nebraska, died from cancer on October 26, 2019, at home with his wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Angie, at his side. John was the son of Warren and Dorothy Turner. He followed his father to Dartmouth and majored in philosophy and mathematics. He was a member of Phi Tau and the swim team, where he earned NCAA medals. Graduating in 1960, he was activated into the Army at the rank of second lieutenant and was honorably discharged in 1968. He attended Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, where he earned a master of divinity degree in 1966. He enrolled in Duke Graduate School, where he researched ancient gnostic documents that had been found in a cave in Nag Hammadi, Egypt. He wrote his dissertation on the Book of Thomas the Contender and earned his Ph.D. in religion in 1970. Soon after he was invited to join the faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as the first professor of religious studies. He established the university’s first school of religion. His published seven texts from the Nag Hammadi document in English and French were continually sought after by other scholars around the world. While in Lincoln, his lifelong avocation, his love of music, grew into full bloom. He soloed and sang in choirs in churches and chorales. John and Elizabeth met and were married in 1992. He is survived by Elizabeth, Angie, stepdaughter Sarah, and brother Warren.