Hazel Belle Turley, 83, of Seaside Drive, Jamestown, RI, passed away on Sunday, December 18, 2016. She was the wife of the late Emmet E. Turley, to whom she was married for 51 years.

Hazel was born on October 25, 1933 to Abram and Hazel (Paine) Kingsley.  She was the sister of Richard Kingsley, Carol Steinert, and the late Frederick Kingsley and Winifred Kingsley. 

In addition to her siblings, she is survived by her five children: Christopher P. Turley and wife Ann of Saunderstown, RI; Michele E. Fogg and husband Glenn of North Kingstown, RI; Maureen H. Johnson and husband Allen of Manassas, VA; Kevin E. Turley and wife Diana of Simi Valley, CA; and Marianne C. Turley-Moore and husband Brian of Portland, OR, nine grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

She was a nursing graduate of Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital and also received her MBA from Bryant College.  At 25 years of age, Hazel was the youngest nursing instructor at Rhode Island Hospital in 1958, and was featured in the Providence Journal.  In that same year, while serving as a nurse at Nantucket Cottage Hospital, the article credited Hazel with saving a man from drowning and directing the morgue following the crash of a Northeast airliner which killed 24 people. 

Hazel continued her career in nursing in Washington D.C. and California before returning to Rhode Island Hospital where she attained the role of Assistant Director of Nursing of the Jane Brown Unit.  Hazel also worked for the Newport County Community Mental Health Center and other organizations as an advocate for senior citizens, many of whom lived by themselves and had no one to look after them. 

Hazel was an active member of the Republican Party and ran for school committee and state representative in Lincoln, RI.  She fought to preserve Narragansett Bay as a member of the Sierra Club, and served on the Governor's Commission of Lyme Disease and Other Tick Borne Infections, where she educated the public on Lyme disease awareness and prevention.

An avid writer, Hazel helped Ernest Romano, whose family vineyard was seized to build Quonset Naval Air Station, pen his memoirs, "Just Being Ernest".  In 2007, she published with Images of America Narragansett Brewing Company, chronicling the history of the brewery and the memories of its employees.

Hazel enjoyed living on Jamestown Shores and watching sunsets over Narragansett Bay with her husband.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, December 23rd at 10:00 am in St. Bernard Church, 275 Tower Hill Rd. Wickford.   Burial will be held at the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Exeter, RI. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, December 22, 2016 from 4:00 - 7:00 pm in THE CRANSTON-MURPHY FUNERAL HOME of WICKFORD, 140 West Main Street, Wickford Village, North Kingstown, RI.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in her memory to the American Alzheimer's Association, 245 Waterman Street #306, Providence, RI 02906 would be appreciated.

 

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