Oliver Winfield Turner, Jr.

Oliver Winfield Turner, Jr., age 84, of Springfield, Ohio, passed peacefully on Apr 12, 2026, surrounded by loving family. He was born May 27, 1941, in Cropwell, Alabama, near Birmingham. Oliver was the second child of Oliver Winfield Turner, Sr. and Rozzie (Davis) Turner. Oliver, Jr. was a 1957 graduate of Springfield High School, where he played clarinet in the band, then attended Wittenberg University. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran, where he obtained an Associate Degree from The Yale University Institute of Far Eastern Languages and served as a Chinese language specialist. Oliver retired from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base after 36 years of civil service. During his career, he received numerous special achievement, performance, and merit pay awards.

Oliver distinguished himself as the Embry-Woods Family Historian for over 50 years. He co-authored “The African-American Embry-Woods Family from Talladega County, Alabama (1790-2017),” which is in several state archives, local libraries, and in The Library of Congress. His genealogy research was featured in several Ohio and Alabama news articles.

He was also a distinguished gospel pianist, serving as musician for several Springfield, Ohio, and New Haven, Connecticut, Baptist churches and gospel groups.

In 1980, he married Rosemary Hunter, his devoted wife of 46 years. Both became licensed ministers of the Institute of Divine Metaphysical Research (IDMR) and co-directors of its New Jerusalem Singers. Oliver was an outstanding musician, singer, and choir director, dedicated to preaching the Gospel of Yahshua the Messiah in song. In the early 1970’s, the New Jerusalem Singers presented their album, “PRAISE EL.” The prominent endeavor was to familiarize the general public with the original sacred names of the Father, Yahweh; the divine title of the Son, Elohim; and the name of the Holy Spirit, Yahshua the Messiah.

Oliver was also one of three Supervisors of the IDMR Workshop, which was formed to investigate various fields of science and to correlate them with the Divine Pattern of the universe, according to the Law and the Testimony. Oliver typed and edited two editions of the IDMR Workshop book, Science: An Image of the Creator, in July 1977 and August 1979. He was also President of the Springfield Ohio Bible Research Center, a corporation formed to secure our IDMR class building and to support the mission of IDMR.

 He was preceded in death by his parents, Oliver and Rozzie Turner; brothers, Lee Curtis and Frank Turner; sister, Carolyne (Bill) McCullough; father and mother-in-law, Robert Hunter and Vivian (Worthington) Hughes; and sisters-in-law, Ruth Ann Dent and Roberta Parsley. He is survived by his devoted wife, Rosemary (Hunter) Turner; sisters, Dorothy Tuck (Frank) of McDonough, GA, and Betty Jo Mitchell of Springfield; sisters-in-law, Rita Hunter and Etta Turner of Springfield, and Emily Turner of Jacksonville, NC; and many loving nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Visitation will be held from10:00-11:00AM Friday, April 24, 2026, in the Jackson Lytle & Lewis Funeral Home, 2425 N. Limestone Street, Springfield, Ohio with funeral services at 11:00AM. with Dr. Ronald Carr officiating. Burial will follow in the Rose Hill Burial Park.