Ellen Bradley Turner

Our cherished mother, sister, and friend, Ellen Bradley Turner, shed her weary, earthly form on June 6, 2026, readily and peacefully joining the angels’ ranks for eternity. She was born on April 8, 1941, the middle child and only daughter of Stephen and Walena Bradley. Growing up in the tobacco town of Wilson, NC, she enjoyed a childhood playing with friends, walking to school, and learning to play the piano.

Ellen was in the first graduating class of Fike High School in 1959. While many of her peers were getting married after high school, Ellen wanted to further her education instead. She enrolled in Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) to pursue a business degree, which she earned in 1963. That same year she married another student, a sharecropper’s son named Bruce, whom she met when Bruce’s roommate asked her out for a date. Bruce called her up later and talked her into going out with him instead, which led to their devoted 61-year marriage.

After marrying and graduating, Ellen and Bruce moved to Raleigh to begin their lives together. Ellen worked as an administrative assistant for the head psychiatrist at the North Carolina Division of Mental Health. While she enjoyed that job, she and Bruce wanted a simpler, slower pace of life outside of Raleigh. In 1968, they moved to Montgomery County, where she was hired as the head of the business department at the newly formed Montgomery Technical Institute, now Montgomery Community College. Ellen was instrumental in bringing the new employees and first students together, laying a nurturing foundation that persisted for decades. She hosted the very first Christmas party at her and Bruce’s home for the brand-new students at MCC. Through the years, Ellen continued to open their home to numerous students, instructors, and employees for meals, overnight stays, and fellowship, further cementing the family feel of the college and developing life-long friendships along the way.

After cultivating the family atmosphere at the college, Ellen and Bruce created their own family. Ellen left teaching and stayed home for thirteen years to raise their girls. While being a full-time mother, Ellen worked as a Tupperware consultant and sold Stanley Home Products, hosting many parties for these in her home and throughout the county. She also still remained involved with Montgomery Community College through taking and then teaching basketweaving classes part time. Many weekends she travelled with her family to folk art festivals to give basketweaving demonstrations and trade wares with other craftspeople. Her growing daughters had a fantastic time at both the Tupperware and Stanley parties and the folk-art festivals. 

Ellen eventually went back to work full-time at Southern Correctional Institution, and once again, strove to foster closeness among the employees. She established the Caring Hands program to assist employees with hardships and provide emotional support for each other. Many of her scrumptious homemade pound cakes were auctioned off to raise funds for Caring Hands through the years. She was also active in her community, serving on the State Employees’ Credit Union Board for many years, as well as being very active with the Montgomery County Council on Aging during its operation.

 Ellen and Bruce’s landlady had taught Ellen to crochet when they lived in Raleigh, so during her retirement, Ellen picked up her needles again. She crocheted and gifted hundreds of afghans, baby blankets, and dishcloths to family, close friends, acquaintances, and people with whom she felt a connection, which was almost everyone. She never met a stranger and loved to converse with others about how blessed her life was.

Ellen was preceded in death by her husband, Bruce. She is survived by daughters Rebecca Shepherd (Jay) and Colleen Deaton (David), grandchildren Lillian Poole (Timothy), Forrest Decker (Courtney), and Elizabeth Shepherd, three great-grandchildren, two brothers, many nieces and nephews, and a legion of friends. Her giving and generous nature brought people together for over 50 decades and leaves a legacy of caring and compassion few can match. In her final few days, she was still thinking about family and friends, providing instructions on what to gift others. She even said she wondered if she did enough. Rest well, Mama. You did enough.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Ellen’s name to the Bruce Turner Continuing Education Scholarship at Montgomery Community College, 1011 Page St., Troy, NC 27371.

A graveside service will be held on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at Southside Cemetery in Troy, NC at 3:00 pm with Reverend Gail I. Myers officiating.