Jerry Turner in Memorium.
Author Gary Kincel

“It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Jerry Turner. Jerry passed away recently at his home in Highland Beach Florida. A successful landscape architect, Jerry and his wife Mary made their home in Raleigh North Carolina before moving to Florida. He was an avid Jaguar enthusiast, owning many Jaguar cars over the years, and he build a significant collection of Jaguar model cars and other memorabilia, which he donated to the Coventry Foundation during the past few years. Those following this page have seen a number of postings related to Jerry and his collection, which is now housed and displayed in our Columbia SC facility, to honor his memory. I personally enjoyed the time I spent with Jerry during the years and will miss our visits. May he rest in peace”. On July 25th , I posted the above message on Facebook. As you all know, we use Facebook as a way to communicate with our followers to keep them up to date on foundation happenings, and often we post an expanded message on the news section of our website to tell a more complete story. I first met Jerry several years back, when he moved to Florida and started thinking about his massive collection of Jaguar literature, artwork, model cars, and memorabilia. Jerry was the ultimate Jaguar guy. He drove Jaguar cars for years as his main transportation, and collected anything Jaguar related. Even on vacations, he would find some special item such as a model car, and add it to his growing collection. He wanted these collections to remain intact for the next generation to enjoy. After learning about the Coventry Foundation, and reviewing our goals, Jerry decided that he would start to donate parts of his collection to our Foundation for permanent display. From a personal standpoint, I always enjoyed getting a call from Jerry to catch up on life. It always made my trips to Florida better, knowing that I would spend some time with Jerry, at breakfast, or just visiting him at his home and talking. Sad to say my last visit with Jerry was last winter. He asked me to come down and pick up a collection of models that covered the entire history of Jaguar, over 100 total models with a showcase. On a really nice February day, I spent the afternoon with Jerry wrapping, and carefully moving this donation. Later in the year, the Foundation BOD voted to award Jerry the Founders Award, an annual recognition for a special enthusiast and his or her car that best represents the goals and mission of the foundation. Jerry was respected and loved by all who knew him, and I will personally miss our interactions. The Coventry Foundation has lost a friend.