ALEXANDRIA, Va. – It is with much sadness that NACS Daily reports on the passing of NACS 2006-2007 Chairman Sam Turner, who died peacefully at his home in Flintstone, Georgia, on November 10. He was 71.
Turner was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on December 27, 1944, to Marceille and Samuel F.D. Turner and spent most his life living in the Chattanooga area. After graduating from the University of Chattanooga, he spent several years in the banking industry. In 1981 he joined his brother at Calfee Co. as CFO and eventually became its CEO, running Favorite Market/ComPac Convenience stores in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, from 1989 until 2010. In 2013, he co-founded Enzo’s market in downtown Chattanooga.
Turner was past chairman of the Georgia Association of Convenience Store Owners, and was inducted into the Food Industry Hall of Fame. He also served on the board of the Petroleum Convenience Marketers of Alabama, and the Tennessee Oil Marketers Association. He was also very committed to the Chattanooga community, and served on the Board of Trustees of the Hunter Museum, Arts Build and AVA. Turner also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and the Chattanooga Iron Man and was a member of the Chattanooga Rotary.
Turner’s down-to-earth, no nonsense values carried through all of his endeavors, including his role as 2006-2007 NACS chairman, where he was actively engaged in legislative activities. As NACS chairman, Turner served during a time of rising gas prices. As gasoline prices topped $3 a gallon, Turner pointed out that politics and sound policy did not always go hand in hand: “We have a responsibility to ensure that Congress understands what is occurring in the retail gasoline business." And of pending price-gouging legislation, he said, in one of his characteristic colorful phrases, “It’s like petting a puppy—it feels good but it doesn't do a damn thing.”
During his tenure, unfair credit card fees and the big banks were also costing the industry as much as it was seeing in profits, and the industry was fighting back, which Turner compared to "walking up to King Kong and pulling a hair out of his chest.”
Turner’s acknowledged biggest accomplishment in his 20 years with his company was his focus on “keeping his employees happy.” To Turner, his staff was his family, and family meant reaching out to help when needed. Of the convenience industry: “It’s an exciting business, and it’s something new every day…I’m never bored,” Turner said when asked what he loved about his job. “It makes me feel good when I get up every morning…just knowing I am doing something that I enjoy.”
Turner is preceded in death by his wife, Verina S. Baxter, as well as his parents. He is survived by his children: Wendy Turner (Chris Loga), Marietta, Georgia; Samuel P. Turner, Sacramento, California; and Eadress Baxter.
A memorial and visitation took place on Monday, November 14, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chattanooga. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Turner’s memory to ArtsBuild, 301 E. 11th Street, Suite 300, Chattanooga, TN 37403; or to the Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37403.