Roy Turner

"Boys Ranch Resident to Boys Ranch President"

Pee Wee arrived at Boys Ranch 66 years ago with his two older brothers, Gene and Furd. Although the three boys lived at the Ranch for just three months, the Ranch continued to draw Pee Wee back into progressively more important roles through the years. His continued relationship with Boys Ranch included serving as a masonry foreman during the construction of the Boys Ranch High School, as a house parent and masonry instructor, as a member of the board of directors, as president and chairman of the board, and finally, as the executive director from 1987-1994.

Roy “Pee Wee” Turner was the youngest of 10 children in his family. Roy recalls growing up in Amarillo, Texas, in the 1930s and admits that it “was no easy task for many families.” The Depression was in full swing, poverty was widespread, and many children and families struggled through the tough times.

Roy, his two brothers, and his mother and dad lived in a small three room house near the railroad tracks. “There were no bathroom facilities or hot water in our house – just three rooms and ‘the path,’” he said. His father was uneducated, jobless, and an “accomplished drunk.” Fortunately, his mother was a devout Christian who never knew the taste of alcohol or tobacco. She lived to the age of 86. “I believe that her faith in God, and her love for her children, is what gave her the strength to endure those hard years,” Roy said. “And through her friendships with Cal Farley and Ralph Dykeman, she found the courage to keep going.”

The Maverick Club, founded by Cal Farley, was an important part of life to the Turner boys. The club offered safe harbor through its various athletic opportunities. The Maverick Club was operated by Ralph Dykeman, who became an important role model for the Turners, and many other boys at the club. Oftentimes Mr. Dykeman informed Mr. Farley of the Turner’s needs for medical attention. Roy remembers the family undergoing a health crisis in 1938. “It was discovered that my brothers and I tested positive for tuberculosis,” Roy said. “Our older sister had died from tuberculosis, and we suffered from malnutrition due to our poor diet and lack of milk.” Mr. Farley, along with two other Amarillo businessmen, “paid our way to the county preventorium. We spent several months in the hospital until we regained our health.” The following year Mr. Farley founded Boys Ranch and the three brothers were among its first residents. The old courthouse became home for the first group of boys. “My room was on the second floor, southwest corner,” Roy said. Roy remembers being the first Boys Rancher to get into trouble. “We slept in bunk beds, and I just did not like where my bed was located,” Roy said. “While moving it across the room, I broke some light fixtures on the wall. No one had supper that night until I told the staff that it was I who did it.”

Roy has many fond memories of the Ranch, but one favorite story concerns Mr. Alton Weeks, one of the early administrators. Mr. Weeks was known to have a good sense of humor and to be a pretty good ventriloquist. He enjoyed teasing the boys whenever he could. “I remember many nights walking down to the creek with Mr. Weeks and a frog would start talking to me.” At the Ranch, the boys worked and played hard. They swam, fished, and hiked throughout the area filled with historical sites the boys were keen to explore.

From Roy’s perspective, “The Ranch really accomplished what Mr. Farley wanted. It got us off the streets and gave us a regular diet and a little supervision.”

More boys began to arrive at the Ranch and Roy and his brothers moved back home. “Although the Turner family home life had improved some, we still faced meager times,” Roy said. “There was no money for decent clothes, school needs, proper food, or even spending money that a kid needs. We still lived in the little three room house below the tracks. So in the ninth grade, I quit school to work at various jobs which were easy to get since manpower was short during the war. In 1944, at the age of 16, I went to work as a bricklayer’s helper. Those days, we worked seven days a week, 10 hours a day due to the war. The long hours helped because I had no time to get into trouble.”

In 1945, Roy became an apprentice bricklayer. Two years later he married 17-year-old Virginia Pinkley. In 1949, Roy finished his apprenticeship. Roy reunited with Boys Ranch in 1955 after the United Peace Officers of America raised the funds to build a new Boys Ranch High School. Roy was hired to supervise the masonry. During construction of the high school, Mr. Farley discussed with Roy the possibility of starting a bricklayer’s school at the Ranch. He offered Roy the opportunity to be the first instructor and, after careful consideration, Roy, Virginia, and their four young children moved to Boys Ranch in 1956. Roy was once again a member of the Boys Ranch family.

Roy taught bricklaying courses in the morning and afternoon and served as a house parent for 36 boys in Western Avenue dormitory. The first construction project Roy supervised with the boys was building Maynard Hall, a new boys’ home.

Roy and Virginia spent two years at the Ranch, which included two Christmases. House parents were asked to make sure that each child received a gift at the Christmas party. “The most important thing they got for Christmas was something they needed, like a coat and shoes. And they always got some special gift.”

“Christmas was a very special time to see so many children so happy,” he said. “We’d take that forlorn kid, but at Christmas to see the smile on their face, seeing that someone cares, seeing a gift with their name on it, that was our payday.”

The Christmas holidays were the only time of the year when most of the boys went home to be with their families. During that time, the staff performed all the chores. It was also a time for families to spend more time together. “When you’re taking care of 36 boys and teaching school, it didn’t give us much time for companionship.” In addition, the holiday, with fewer boys on the campus, allowed the staff to give individual attention to those children who remained at the Ranch.

Roy remembers that goodies were few and far between at the Ranch. Virginia was well-known as a fine cook, and she made sure that the boys never went without some sort of goody, like cookies and cake. “Her talent in the kitchen won the hearts of 36 boys and her own four children,” Roy said. “Our job was a ‘calling’, and it was made easier because our children became part of the ‘Western Avenue Family.’”

But Roy became restless. He had always dreamed of owning his own masonry company. Mr. Farley offered this advice: “Roy, you must try it on your own, for if you don’t you will always wonder, ‘Could I have made it?’” With Mr. Farley’s encouragement and good blessings, Roy moved his family to Amarillo in 1959 and established R.E. Turner Masonry. Roy’s company grew through the years. Its projects included many buildings throughout the Amarillo region, as well as several new Boys Ranch homes, the Boys Ranch Gymnasium, and his most prized project of all, the Boys Ranch Chapel.

“While building our company and raising our family, Virginia and I still found time to work with other deserving youngsters,” Roy said. “We both volunteered to coach youth athletics at Kids, Inc., which was also started by Cal Farley. I also coached at the Maverick Club for two years.”

In 1974, Roy was elected to the Board of Directors of Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, serving in a variety of positions, including president. Pee Wee, the little boy who benefited from the love and support of Boys Ranch, was now providing leadership for the organization -- from resident to president. At this time, Roy and Virginia’s children were grown, so the couple chose to devote their time to the Ranch. They never missed a football game or a Rodeo. They enjoyed attending athletic events and theatrical productions, as well as the many other activities. “Boys Ranch became our life,” Roy said.

Roy then became the organization’s first executive director from 1987 until his retirement in 1994. That same year, the Amarillo Globe News named Roy its “Man of the Year.” In 1997, Roy received the Maverick Boys and Girls Club “Man and Youth Award.” Roy and Virginia have been married more than 58 years and they are immensely proud of their four children, nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Roy is quick to give credit to Virginia for their long and successful partnership as a married couple. “I have not done anything she has not been a part of,” he said.

Roy’s best memory of Cal Farley is based on the number of lives touched by him through the years. “If you stop and think how many children he has helped,” Roy said, “multiply that by the parents of those children, their aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas.” He and Ralph Dykeman “influenced history by changing unfortunate circumstances for people like me and my family.”

Roy believes that the Ranch is still fulfilling Mr. Farley’s mission of helping children find a second chance for success. “Boys Ranch can never replace a family, but we’re the next best thing,” he said. “I was privileged to be among the underprivileged children of Amarillo who survived tough times because of Cal Farley’s and Ralph Dykeman’s love, guidance and encouragement to overcome tough odds. Only in America can a story like this happen.”