A Celebration of Life will be held at Western Gateway Park in Penn Valley, CA on June 27, 2021, at 12:00 PM to honor the life of James Owen Turpen. You are cordially invited to attend, to celebrate and to share in remembering our most loved son, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend.
Jimmy entered the world a robust, 7-pound 10-ounce, bundle of energy on May 17, 1962, in San Diego, CA. He attended public school in Southern California, primarily in Mira Loma, lastly in 11th grade at Rubidoux High School. As a young man he enjoyed his family and friends, especially when meeting for weekend football, entering junior rodeo competitions, (until the day came when he had to climb on Jekyll, a one-ton bull), and then excelling as an amateur moto-cross participant, (experience that made his street bike love palpable). It was then, in working part time for Jim Stewart Masonry to support his motorcycle racing, that he announced his ambition to be a mason, something he recognized as a talent he could perfect, and which he continued to master through his entire life. He continued to enjoy motorcycles during his life but building with block was his calling. You don’t have to look far to see an example; a supermarket, a drugstore, many a block wall, that has his DNA imbedded in it via blood, sweat and tears. In recent years Jim enjoyed family and friends in weekly partner dancing at Grass Valley venues. He stayed active as a volunteer at Western Gateway Park and in helping friends with different projects.
Jimmy met Toni Wright, the mother of his two children, when both lived in Mira Loma. Though their relationship didn’t survive, both Jennifer Lynn Wright-Fangonilo and James Owen Turpen II maintained strong ties with both of their parents’ families that sustained them through the loss of their mother, now as they say farewell to their dad.
Since I’ve been tasked with providing Jim’s obituary, I have to acknowledge that it’s likely because I have a bit of a reputation for having a “strong” heart. Possibly, you’ve heard that I have a “hard”, heart and attribute it to some of the adversity you believe I’ve overcome. Who knows, but I think I can attest to the fact that I have steeled my heart, in my way, protecting it, in the face of life’s unexpected curveballs. I can’t disagree, and, at the same time, and especially now, can say unequivocally, that my oldest child, James Owen Turpen, is responsible in great part for my strong heart. His entire being, almost 59 years of life, was spread over times, events, loves and lives that embraced all of you and in different aspects of life and living, that I’m left with only imagining.
When we visit one of his favorite places, Englebright Lake, we’ll see him in that yellow jet boat, once more wondering why it didn’t erupt in flames, or waterskiing or kneeboarding, holding our breath while he jumped, flipped and made us fear for the life he had no fear in living. A huge blessing is the most recent memories of him, waving as he kayaked out to join his family for a day at the lake, his joy in spending time with his grandkids with memories of those homeless days spent on the lake just beneath the surface. Jim loved those days and reflected on them, uneasy in asking forgiveness he never felt he deserved.
I was his mom, not his keeper, and yet I was blessed with keeping his heart in my heart, his head in my arms, and his beautiful spirit whole as he left this world. There are no words for what it means to have been entrusted to his final farewell, knowing that he loved me enough to be with me, withstanding the pain as he left here on May 8, 2021, in much the same way he withstood it when he entered here on May 17, 1962. In the words of the song, “my heart will go on”, and as I’m sure his will, and as I know, with a deep belief, that nothing that ever was can ever be lost.
Jimmy peacefully passed away on May 8, 2021 at his home in Big Oak Valley, CA. Surviving are his mother, Sherry (Mike) Balow; his sisters, Nora (Kirk) Bradford and Alana Kallas; his brother, Greg (Heidi) Balow, his daughter, Jennifer (Ken) Fangonilo, Krystal, Kayla and Caelyn; his son, James (Dena) Turpen II, Kylie, Emery, James (AKA “Owen”) III; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. A piece of Jim’s heart, Leader, will remain in our lives, a final gift of love.
In lieu of flowers please consider making a contribution or a donation in Jim’s name to Sammy’s Friends or Western Gateway Park.
