Frank S. Turnage

Francis “Frank” Shirley Turnage, husband of Nancy Wells Turnage, died Feb. 20 in Fredericksburg. He was 79. Frank, a native of eastern North Carolina, had a long and distinguished career in the Virginia Community College System and served for 21 years as president of Germanna Community College, retiring as President Emeritus in 2007. The son of Henry Bailey and Mary Anna Sugg Turnage of Snow Hill NC, Frank was born July 16, 1939, in Hookerton, N.C. He and his older brother Bailey Euscebius “Cebe” Turnage, worked in the grist mill built by their grandfather. Called Shirley as a child, he was surrounded by a loving circle of aunts (Annie, Lucy and Payne) who encouraged him to pursue a college degree.  Frank was a member of the Order of First Families of North Carolina. Frank attended Duke University (English) where he met and married Nancy Wells, the love of his life, in the Duke University Chapel.  After teaching English in military and public schools of North Carolina, and starting a learning lab at Piedmont Community College in Charlotte NC, Frank earned a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctorate in counseling and higher education from the University of Virginia. However he remained a Duke basketball fan all his life. Frank moved to Virginia in 1967 and started his career with the Virginia Community College system at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, where he was director of the Learning Lab and later vice president and dean. At Blue Ridge, Frank founded the nursing program which had a huge positive impact on the community and in the lives of his students. Frank was a life-long rose grower, famous within garden club circles for his hybrid tea rose garden. In Weyers Cave, Frank and Nancy restored a beautiful Victorian house which was later developed into a bed and breakfast. Frank was named President of Germanna Community College in 1986 at a time of statewide budget cuts for education and construction. But he believed Germanna had to grow to meet the expanding populations of Fredericksburg and Culpeper. He embarked upon an expansion of Germanna, building the Fredericksburg Campus and later the Culpeper campus.  These expansions were possible because Frank identified the local needs and enlisted a community of leaders willing to lead the way to make the future happen.  Working with Jack Lewis (NRCC President), Frank was instrumental in implementing the Virginia Community College Guaranteed Admissions Program which helps community college students secure 4-year degrees from Virginia State Colleges.  Frank, in conjunction with generous local donors, founded the Turnage Endowment fund which supports the mission of Germanna by meeting funding needs not provided by state budgets.  But he was most proud of the Germanna Guarantee, assuring that no student would be denied the opportunity to enroll because of financial struggle.  Funding for the Germanna Guarantee is partially provided by the famous “Monte Carlo” nights held annually by Dr. Turnage and his successors. Frank remained active in retirement, serving the Fredericksburg Community as President of the United Way, the Germanna Colonies in Virginia Foundation, the Salvation Army, the Montpelier Foundation, and the Fredericksburg Area Chamber of Commerce. Frank was a SACS Accreditation Commissioner, and later served on the Stratford University Board of Trustees.  Frank taught classes at Germanna, and was an adjunct professor of doctoral-level communications and education courses at George Mason University and at Old Dominion University. He was a Virginia Partners Bank founding member.  Frank was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Fredericksburg Rotary Club and received the 2005 Prince B. Woodard Leadership Award. The Turnage family is proud to announce the Turnage Legacy Fund which will support the Germanna Guarantee and we ask that all gifts be directed to the Turnage Legacy Fund at Germanna Foundation ( www.Germanna.edu/donate/ or (540)423-9060). Frank will be lovingly remembered by his wife Nancy of 56 years and his children Wells (Ann-Marie) and Noah (Christina).  Frank will be also fondly remembered by his five grandchildren Maryanna, Gabor, Parker, Elizabeth and Melina. In addition to his parents and brother, a daughter-in-law, Lora Quesenberry Turnage, preceded him in death. Visitation will be Tuesday, February 26, 6-8 p.m., at the Germanna Community College Fredericksburg Campus Workforce Building.  A funeral service in memory of Frank will be Wednesday, February 27, at 1 p.m. at The Presbyterian Church, 810 Princess Anne St., Fredericksburg, and the family will receive friends immediately following the service in the fellowship hall. A private family burial in the Mewborn family cemetery will be in Snow Hill, N.C.