Dale A. Turner

The Reverend Dale Allen Turner, 87, of Crown Point and formerly of Elkhart, IN, passed away peacefully with his wife at his side at the Wittenberg Village Health Center in Crown Point on Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 8:45 pm following an extended illness. He was born in Decker, MI on February 3, 1933 and was the son of the late Wilfred A. and Kathryn M. (Parrott) Turner. On June 5, 1953, Dale married Mahala “Mickie” Craig in Shabbona, MI. She survives at Wittenberg Village after 67 wonderful years together.

Also surviving are his loving daughters Sherry (Bruce) Ake of Ft. Gratiot, MI, Ranae (Doug) Heeres of Fayette, OH and Melanie (James) Hardman of Crown Point, IN; grandchildren Melissa Ake of Clinton Twp., MI, Jennilyn (Chris) Ake VanderWeide of Caldonia, MI, Erica (Levi) Heeres Suffel of Angola, IN, Landon (Emily) Heeres of Whitehouse, OH, Whitney Heeres of Fayette, OH, Stephanie (Derek) Hardman Garcia of Long Island, NY, and Andrea (Jeran) Hardman Nicholas of Ponmar, Tamil Nadu, India; great grandchildren Asher, Adelyn, Turner, Titus, Jackson, Joy, Gabriel, Silas, Eliana, Rosalie, Grace, Josiah, Obed, Timothy, Owen and Eva; siblings Joy (Robert) Bullock of Cortes, NM, Janice Turner of New Haven, MI and is preceded in death by a sister, Marilee (Jeffrey)Miller of Memphis, TN.  Pastor Dale is also survived by a host of loving nieces, nephews, cousins and good friends.

Dale was born and raised on a dairy farm in the “thumb” of Michigan and attended Michigan State University to study agriculture. In 1969, he joined Gideon’s International and began distributing Bibles and speaking in area churches each weekend to spread the word about their ministry. In 1971, he sold the farm and answered the call of God to become a full-time pastor. He pastored at the East Jordan (MI) Missionary Church for 12 years where he also served as Chaplain for the Charlevoix County Sheriff’s Department for 9 years. He pastored the West Eckford Missionary Church in Marshall, MI for 5 years before moving to Elkhart, IN,  where he was the Chaplain for the Osolo Township Fire Department for 16 years and pastored the Osolo Missionary Church on County Road 6 for 7 years until his health required his early retirement in 1995. After that, he and his wife Mickie were members of the Zion Missionary Church in Elkhart until joining their daughter Melanie and Jim Hardman in Crown Point.  Dale moved in to  Wittenberg Village in June of 2019.

In a continuing effort to combat the spread of COVID-19, a private family memorial service will be held at the Wittenberg Village Crown of Life Chapel in Crown Point on Thursday, August 6, 2020 which will be streamed to the public live at 11:00 am EST.  Following that, friends may gather at Billings Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Elkhart anytime after 2 pm, remaining in their vehicles until the procession leaves the funeral home at 2:45 pm EST to proceed to the  Osolo Township Cemetery on County Road 6 in Elkhart. Pastor Dale’s grandson, Rev. Derek Garcia, pastor of Tabernacle of Joy, Long Island, NY and Chaplain for the Nassau County Police Department, will officiate the graveside services and Fire Department Honors beginning there at 3:00 pm. Again, the family will attempt to stream the services live (if possible) from the cemetery and also simulcast the audio on an FM radio station so it may be heard in the cars of the attendees.  All audio and video links will be listed on Pastor Dale’s obituary page on the funeral home’s website.  

Family and friends are encouraged to browse the funeral home’s website, where one can share the obituary, leave condolences for the family, order flowers, get directions and more. Memorial donations in Pastor Dale’s memory may be given to Gideon’s International, either on-line or through your local chapter.

*PLEASE NOTE*  --  Pastor Dale’s family would like to personally thank all who plan to attend the Crown Point and/or Elkhart services as your presence will be comforting and cherished. That being said, due to the presence of immuno-compromised family members including Dale’s lovely wife Mickie,  it is asked that attendees present at the funeral home and graveside portions of Dale’s celebration of life remain in their automobiles to fulfill social distancing requests. Therefore,  the family had provided several internet links to allow viewing of the 11 am Crown Point Service as well as a video memorial posted on YouTube.  Graveside attendees will be given an FM radio station number to tune into the service once at the cemetery. Click on the following links to view:

11 am (EST) Thursday Memorial Service at Crown Point, IN:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCu0VNICUN4

3 pm (EST) Thursday Graveside Service at Elkhart, IN:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0N2rho687NB2mtKzqlYEtg

(Billings Funeral Home is not responsible for technical or reception issues of this broadcast)

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