William C. Turner

Oklahoma Department of Corrections — Oklahoma City, OK

Accident

End of Watch July 18, 1935

Age 44

Tour of Duty 4 yrs

The Vigil Panel 70 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 18

Incident

Guard William Turner was killed when he was struck by lightning while supervising a work crew at Oklahoma State Penitentiary's prison farm. He and the horse he was riding were both killed.

Guard Turner had served with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for four years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and three children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-OK-43B463FD
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Guard Turner gave the Oklahoma Department of Corrections 4 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Oklahoma. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Guard Turner.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Oklahoma Department of Corrections

Location Oklahoma City, OK

Platform Identity odcorr.oklahoma.ok.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch July 18, 1935

Tour of Duty 4 yrs

Age 44

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Guard William C. Turner is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In OK, 135 of 582 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 23.2% of this state's fallen. That is 7.8 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Oklahoma Department of Corrections, 2 of 19 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 10.5% of this agency's fallen.

Oklahoma Department of Corrections

of 19 officers

10.5% Accident

OK — Statewide

135

of 582 officers

23.2% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident