William Thomas (Tom) Turk

January 8, 1940 - June 1, 2020

William Thomas (Tom) Turk passed away on Monday, June 1, 2020, at an Abilene Memory Care Unit at the age of 80 years old. He was born in Winters, Texas on January 8, 1940 to William (Bill) Frederick Turk and Irene Smith Turk. At the age of 8 his family moved to Pecos, Texas where he graduated from Pecos High School in 1958. He attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock and North Texas State University in Denton. After several jobs with seismograph crews in West Texas, he landed a job as a cook on a tug boat which serviced oil company businesses up and down the Mississippi River. He later became a First Mate on the tug boat, and in 1973 acquired a position as Captain on a tug boat for an oil company in Peru where he traveled the Amazon River for 2 ½ years. Finally, he landed a captain’s position on an oil tanker for Gulf Oil in Nigeria, West Africa where he worked until he retired in 1989. His retirement years were spent traveling the United States in his small motorhome and living on the creek at the family farm in Winters. Tom was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Arnold Smith Turk. He is survived by one brother, Lynn Truman Turk and his wife Sylvia of Abilene, and a nephew, Timothy Turk and wife Karrie, and two nieces, Tina Turk and Tiffany Turk all of Abilene. Visitation will be from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 4, 2020 at Winters Funeral Home. Graveside services will be held at Lakeview Cemetery in Winters on Thursday, June 4, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. officiated by his brother, Rev. Truman Turk. Memorials may be made to the Eunice Chambless Hospitality House, PO Box 5228, Abilene, Texas 79608, or to the donor’s favorite charity.