* Disclaimer *
There are going to be lots of posts about Dad mainly because I want my boys to know what kind of maternal grandfather they had and I like to have it written down so I'll never forget.
Brief History of PopPop
Your PopPop's full name was William Richard Turberville and his parents (your great-grandparents) were William George Turberville and Blanche Sowell Turberville. Your great-grandmother died when PopPop was in college. Your great-grandfather was a pharmacist and your great-great-grandfather owned the Turberville Clinic in Century, Florida which I understand to have been a hospital. PopPop grew up in Century, Florida which is right in the panhandle and on the Florida/Alabama line. Your great-grandmother was from Flomaton, Alabama which was right on the state line across from Century. PopPop was an only child and his parents spoiled him rotten. I've been told that he had a Harley Davidson, a private swimming pool and tennis courts at his house, and multiple cars and boats. His cousins have said "that if there were a person with a reason to be selfish then it was your PopPop". But the crazy thing is that PopPop was far from selfish. Again, his cousins have said that PopPop always shared whatever he had with all of his friends no matter what.
He was a generous and selfless man.
PopPop's Colt league in baseball won the World Series in 1959 and he was also on Auburn's 1963 SEC Championship team in baseball, too. PopPop was a good baseball player. He loved all sports but especially Auburn's. He graduated from Auburn in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy. While at Auburn, he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity (so are your Uncle Bull and Kentos) and his nickname was The Wheel. He got this nickname from his red, convertible Corvette that he drove. If there were ever a place PopPop would have moved it would have been Auburn. His love ran deep.
He was an athletic and smart man.
After graduation he became a naval aviator in the Vietnam War. He flew P3s looking for enemy submarines. That is when he met BecBec. She was teaching for the Department of Defense in Okinawa and that is where he was stationed. They met, fell in love, he broke off his engagement back home, and married BecBec on March 15, 1969.
He was a man full of love and support.
After he got out of the Navy, he flew for Eastern Airlines. In 1981 he was highjacked to Cuba when a group of terrorists got on the plane and doused themselves with gasoline threatening to light themselves and a flight attendant on fire if they didn't get flown to Cuba. PopPop was the 2nd Officer and was the communicator between the terrorists and captain of the plane. They landed in Cuba and the terrorists were arrested. He stayed with Eastern until 1989 when the airline went bankrupt. I remember walking the picket line with him in Columbia.
He was a man of conviction and truth.
After Eastern, he flew for Kiwi which is an airline that a bunch of ex-Eastern airline pilots started. PopPop was in that group of owners. All during this time, though, he kept up his pharmacy license and was filling in at pharmacies. After fully retiring from flying, he worked as a pharmacist filling in for other pharmacists around the area.
He was a man of hard work and dependability.
This is where his love of the RV started. PopPop bought a RV and off BecBec and PopPop went. They took it to all of the Auburn home football games, to the mountains, the beaches, out west, basically any where. I think he went through three of them. All the grandchildren referred to it as PopPop's bus. Just this past year, we went to the beach for a week with PopPop and BecBec and to Disney World. PopPop was always up for an adventure with BecBec.
He was a man who had many great adventures.
But most importantly, PopPop was full of God's love. He lived his life in His footsteps. He was a great example of a Godly man. He was not one to be evangelical but he stood strong and firm in his faith.
He was a faithful servant.
