The face jumped right out at me. The look is just about right, too, as he is so obviously looking into an impressive future. This is Pete Turnham, a senior from a place that a rail line ran to and little more. He was studying agriculture.
Turnham was in the ROTC and went into the Army right after graduation. He became a lieutenant and then a company commander in George Patton's Third Army. After the fighting was over, he found himself in charge of protecting a castle with a lot of stolen art. If you read the book, or saw the movie, "The Monuments Men," you would see where Turnham found himself.
The Third Army stayed in Europe until 1947, but I'm not sure when Turnham came home. When he did, he worked for a decade at Extension, and started his own business. He served on the local school board, and then ran for the state house in 1958, where he served for 40 years -- longer than anyone. He served alongside nine governors. He kept his business up for the rest of his days.
He was a family man, too. He met his wife in college, in 1940. They had four children and were married for an amazing 73 years until she died in 2016. Together, they had four children, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren when he passed away. He was widely celebrated in the news obituaries as a man of true service, the kind of politician you wanted to have representing you.
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