Living

Notes:

Name: Keith Belton Turner Date of Birth: 5 Apr 1937 Gender: Male Birth County: San Augustine Mother's Name: Edith Pauline Willey Roll Number: 1937_0008

Keith married Mary Martha Fuller. Mary (daughter of Thomas Deas Fuller, Sr. and Lucille Moss) was born on 24 Jun 1940 in Nacogdoches County, Texas; died on 8 Apr 2022 in Houston, Harris County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The following article appeared in the March 13, 1996 SABINE COUNTY RECORDER:

Sabine County Chamber of Commerce will be hosting activities March 20 honoring Martha Fuller Turner of Houston, who grew up in Sabine County.

Since 1981, she has operated Martha Turner Properties, one of the most successful real estate firms in Houston. A graduate of North Texas State University, she taught elementary school for 15 years before making her career change.

When Martha Turner Properties began, it was described that the entire company was three workaholics crammed into a borrowed Galleria office space.

In addition to her outstanding career, she also finds time form such diverse interests as her board positions with Texas Commerce Bank, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the Houston Association of Realtors as well as chairing gala fundraisers including Crohn's and Colitis Winter Ball, Houston Ballet Guild 50th Anniversary Luncheon, and the "Trees of Hope" to benefit Star of Hope Mission. There are many other civic, charitable, and professional organizations in which Turner is a vital worker.

Turner was named Woman of Distinction by the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and KTRK-TV in 1991 and 1996. She has also received the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation's Gold Key award.

A lengthier article was published in the August 26, 2009 Sabine County Reporter on the occasion of her upcoming induction into the Texas Business Hall of Fame. She was one of only seven women ever to have received this prestigious honor.

Mary Howell wrote the following, for her column "On the Bright Side" honoring Martha for the October 12, 2009 issue of the Sabine County Reporter:

Martha Fuller Turner, a native of Sabine County, has been selected for induction into the Texas Business Hall of Fame. She will be honored during the annual induction dinner October 15, 2009 in Houston.

Martha is President and CEO of Martha Turner Properties, a billion dollar Houston based independent real estate company. Martha attributes her success in life to her upbringing in Hemphill. She has fond memories of her childhood days and of attending Hemphill School where she graduated in 1958.

Martha learned the fundamentals of business from her parents and grandparents, Deas and Lucille and Tom and Sallie who owned and operated Fuller's Dry Goods and Feed Store. She began working in the store when she was six years old. It was her duty to refold shirts, pants and overalls after customers browsed through them. She also wrapped packages and gifts.

Martha has fond memories of attending Hemphill's First Baptist Church where she participated in all church activities. Among her mentors were her pastor, Bro. Clarence Howell and her teachers who always encouraged her to be the best she could be.

I cherish many happy times shared with Martha when she and her friends Charlsia Rice and Sammy Kay Smith visited my sister Clara. The four were fast friends and enjoyed many happy hours at the Howell house.

After Martha graduated from high school she attended North Texas State University earning a degree in music and elementary education. She later taught school in Austin. After retiring from teaching in 1979 she earned her real estate license.

Under Martha's leadership, Martha Turner Properties has flourished into a billion dollar business. Martha encourages her employees to achieve excellence, believe in yourself, be open to opportunities, accept life changes, learn to forgive and be thankful for God's blessings.

Her friend, Clara Murphy said "If you looked up the word 'optimism' in the dictionary you would see Martha's picture!"

She is often called upon to give motivational speeches in various places across the United States. She is active in numerous charitable organizations.

Martha enjoyed visiting with friends during the reunion of the class of 1958 which was held Saturday at the Bistro in Hemphill.

Houston Mayor Bill White has proclaimed October 24 Martha Fuller Turner Day. " I extend my congratulations to Martha for her success in life. I am blessed to call Martha Turner my friend."

Death Notice, Houston Chronicle, April 8, 2022

Martha Turner, who built a residential real estate empire in Houston, died Friday at the age of 81, her firm, Martha Turner Sotheby's International Realty, said.

Considered a matriarch of Houston real estate, Turner rose to build a sprawling real estate agency that was closing more than $2 billion in real estate transactions a year before it was acquired in 2014 by New York-based Sotheby's International Realty. Turner and her co-president Tom Anderson stepped away from running the day-to-day business operations in 2015, but they held chairman emeritus roles. Today the firm has 290 real estate agents.

"We are heartbroken over Martha's passing," the company said in a statement. "She was a deeply respected leader in the Houston real estate community and an inspiration, friend, and mentor to us all," the company said in a statement.

The cause of her death was not immediately available.

Born June 24, 1940, Turner grew up in the small East Texas town of Hemphill before graduating from the University of North Texas in 1962, according to a 2016 profile in Intown Houston Magazine. After a 15-year career teaching, she turned to real estate in the late 1970s, when she studied at the University of Houston and received her real estate license, the magazine reported.

By 1981, Turner partnered with her friend Nancy Owens to launch Turner-Owens Real Estate. Five years later, the company became Martha Turner Properties.

Over the years, Turner built the brokerage into a thriving luxury real estate business. In 2009, Turner was inducted into Texas Business Hall of Fame as one of only seven women to have received the award at the time. She also became the first woman to be honored with the American Advertising Federation-Houston's Trailblazer Award in 2012.

Following the acquisition by Sotheby's, Turner pledged to help steer the company's future through continued involvement in business development, sales and marketing. She also continued to be a mentor for other real estate professionals.

"To be successful, you have to love what you do, love the people around you, make everyone feel special, and realize that you are the only person in charge of your life," Turner once told colleagues at Sotheby's.

Among those mentored by Turner was Bob Hale, CEO of Houston Association of Realtors.

It is hard to imagine a world without Martha Turner - a giant in the real estate industry and a model of success for businesswomen everywhere, Hale said in a statement. "Martha helped shape the industry and exemplified strength, poise and professionalism. She was a pioneer."

Jennifer Wauhob, the chair of the Houston Association of Realtors, described Turner as "a towering figure who served as a role model to countless real estate professionals."

Lisa Baer, a realty agent with Martha Turner for nearly 35 years, said Turner was down-to-earth with a strong sense of faith. Baer said she inspired everyone around her.

"She wanted everybody to be their best and to have their best," Baer said. "She was very motivational, inspirational, positive."

Turner's first husband, Keith, died in 1986, and she remarried a few years later to Glenn Bauguss, according to earlier media reports. She had a daughter and a grandson as of 2016, along with several stepchildren and grandchildren, according to earlier media reports.

Marilyn Thompson, who retired a year ago as president of Martha Turner Sotheby's International after working there 31 years, said Turner provided an example to other women seeking a professional career. Turner never asked her agents to do anything that she would not do herself, Thompson recalled. If it required getting down on the floor to piece together a sales presentation for a home, Turner would get down on the floor.

"She was always impeccably dressed and very professional in everything she did," Thompson said. "She opened the doors for women to make a good living."

Thompson described Turner as natural salesperson with a genius for marketing. Before real estate, she sold everything from encyclopedias to wigs to women's underwear. Thompson said she would laugh whenever Turner recalled her days as the top women's underwear salesperson at Montgomery Ward.

After selling one pair, she'd tell the customer, "You really need 7. Don't you wear a clean pair every day?"

"So, she'd sell 7 pairs," Thompson said.

Former business partner Tom Anderson said it was easy to work with Turner, who had a warm, welcoming personality.

"We never had an argument in our 11 years," Anderson said. "We had some disagreements, but we were able to sit down and work it out without one unkind word."

The two formed a partnership in the early 2000s and grew the business by recruiting other professionals who shared their value of building and maintaining relationships with the community, he said. Turner was an active participant and generous donor to charities and encouraged her colleagues to give back, he said.

"It was about more than just sales and success," Anderson said. "It was about long-term relationship clients, customers and other real estate companies."

Anderson said he visited with Turner about a month ago, before she went into hospice care. Her daughter had done her makeup that day.

"I held her hand and said a prayer. She was just beautiful," Anderson said, his voice cracking. "That's how I'll always remember her."

A briefer obituary was published in The Sabine County Reporter, April 13, 2022, page 8

Notes:

It appears from the book "A Pictorial History of Sabine County, Texas, " that Deas Fuller was active in community events. He is shown participating in the Western Day parade and as part of the Hemphill Volunteer Fire Department. It also appears he operated a feed store.

In the December 28, 1994 "Year In Review" column in the Sabine County Reporter, it is noted that in April "Longtime Hemphill resident and business/civic leader Deas Fuller died at age 76."

Thomas married Lucille Moss before 1940 in Texas. Lucille was born on 23 Jul 1921 in Texas; died on 27 Jul 1980 in Harris County, Texas; was buried in Hemphill City Cemetery, Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In the books "Old Timers of Sabine County, Texas Vignettes of Pioneer Families" by Virgie Speights (S. Malone, 1983), the following vignette appears:

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Graydon (Tom) Fuller celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, Sunday, February 20, 1966, at their home with an open house from 2 to 4 p.m.. Hostesses were their daughter-in-law, Mrs. Deas Fuller, their niece, Mrs. L.A. Adiches, and Miss Gertrude Sanders.

Mrs. J.O. Porter, Miss Sherry Lewis, Miss Amanda Gooch and Miss Nancy McClelland served golden iced wedding cakd and gold punch and conducted guests through the gift display rooms. Their grandson, Tommy Fuller, registered the guests as they arrived.

When Thomas Graydon Fuller, son of James Estern (sic) and Hannah Pickney Deweese Fuller, and Miss Sallie Mason, daughter of William Crockett and Josephine Deas Mason, of San Augustine, were married at the home of the bride's parents they moved into the house where Tom was born and lived all of his life. He has been in business in Hemphill for forty years.

The Fullers have one son, Thomas Deas Fuller, who is in business with his father and lives across the street from his parents, in a home once owned by Dr. and Mrs. W.T. Arnold and family. Mrs. Arnold was formerly Miss Pearl Fuller, sister of Tom.

There is one grandson, Tommy Fuller of Hemphill, and one granddaughter, Mrs. Martha Turner of Austin.

According to "A Pictorial History of Sabine County, Texas", the home of Tom and Sally Mason Fuller was believed to have been built during the 1870's by Allen Beckcom.

In her weekly Sabine County Reporter column, "On the Bright Side", Mary Howell wrote that she remembered "Tom ran a clothing and feed store next to the drug store [which his brother Jim Fuller owned and operated]....Deas kept the store open after his parents deaths." (Page 4, July 18, 2007).

(Research):

Census Listings:

1940 Census
Texas, Sabine County, Hemphill, JP 1
Enumerated April 13, 1940
SD 42-2 ED 202-1 Sheet 5B
98-0-4000-N
Fuller, Thomas G Head M W 47 M No h-3 Tx Sam House Merchant General Mdse Store
Fuller, Sallie O Wf F W 42 m No H3 Tx Sam House
Fuller, Thomas Dees Son m W 22 M No H-4 Tx Same House Salesman General Mdse Store
Fuller, Lucille Dtr-in-law F W 18 M No H-4 R Nacogdoches Tx

Thomas married Sarah "Sallie" Melissa Mason on 20 Feb 1916 in Sabine County, Texas. Sarah (daughter of William Crockett Mason and Josephine Deas) was born on 26 Mar 1897 in Sabine County, Texas; died on 13 Jun 1987 in Sabine County, Texas; was buried in Hemphill City Cemetery, Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sallie was the great-grand-daughter of William and Judith Mason. William, his wife Judith, and their six children are on the first census of Texas. He rec'd a land grant of one league and one labor, and served as Sheriff and Tax Assessor of Sabine County for a number of years. (From the notes of Linda Fuller, Cleveland, Texas).

Notes:

Married:
"They were married at the home of the bride's parents.."