It is with profound sorrow that we write to let you know that our dear friend and comrade Ann Turner passed away yesterday. Ann fought valiantly for her life in recent years against the ravages of poverty, homelessness, and a heartless for-profit medical system. Ann's friends knew she battled frequently with depression and despair, yet they also saw her pull herself together when she was called to step forward in the fight for a just and humane society. During those times her warmth, humor, and enthusiasm were an inspiration to all of us.
Above all, Ann symbolized a vision. It was one she spoke of frequently: a world where there was no hunger, where no children were homeless, and where the enormous wealth of our society was shared equally, so that none were needy. Ann dedicated the final years of her life to speaking, demonstrating, and even getting arrested in the fight for that vision.
We do not know now which of her many ailments Ann died from. She had multiple brain surgeries that never completely succeeded in eradicating the tumor there. She also suffered from chronic heart and breathing disorders. We do know that, because she was poor, she never received the kind of medical treatment she needed and deserved. In her final months, when her doctor prescribed round the clock oxygen treatment, MediCal refused to pay for more than five hours a day. We also know that all of her health problems were aggravated by homelessness. Evicted from a trailer park in the summer of 1999, she subsisted in a harsh homeless shelter for a year and a half before finally getting accepted into a small SRO apartment earlier this year.
It is ironic - and makes us angry - that by then her health had already deteriorated so much that she could not enjoy the experience of having a home again.
About the same time, earlier this year, she was appointed to the Housing Advisory Commission of the City of San Jose. Her final political action was to help convince that commission to endorse the ultimately victorious proposal to allocate 30% of housing funds to ELI (extremely low-income) families. More than to anyone else, the credit and honor for that victory deserve to go to Ann Turner.
May God keep and protect her precious spirit, a spirit that lives on in our hearts as surely as if she were sitting here next to us.
She is survived by her husband Elbert and her sons Thurman and Steve.
