Within a span of about 24 hours this week, Western Tidewater lost three pillars of the community.

Marie Newton Beale Turner, in addition to serving in a volunteer capacity for civic organizations more numerous than space will allow us to list here, taught in Newsoms, Drewryville and Capron for 42 years, retiring from Capron Elementary in 1982.

Mac Coker, a veteran of the United States Navy and graduate of both the University of Virginia and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, moved to Franklin in 1958 and spent 35 years at Union Camp before retiring in 1992. In addition to leading the Franklin Rotary Club’s bell ringing efforts for the Salvation Army for many years, Mac was also the unofficial leader of the OF’s, a group whose full name we won’t spell out here but that met at Fred’s once a month to eat breakfast and discuss the pressing issues of the day.

Paul Camp Marks was a WWII veteran who saw action during the Battle of the Bulge. Upon returning home to his Southampton County home, he was a successful farmer who was engaged in all aspects of community life, from being a charter member of his beloved Indiantown Hunt Club to serving on the Southampton County School Board to being on the board of directors of the Camp Foundation.

In days gone by, it was considered a duty and obligation to serve the community and give of one’s time and talents. All three of these individuals served and gave more than their fair share. A grateful community will miss them all.