Florence Herbert Turpin

Published 12:00 am Friday, November 23, 2018

DECATUR, Ala. — A memorial service for Florence Herbert Turpin, 92, of Decatur, who died on Nov. 16, 2018, at Summerford Nursing Home in Falkville, Ala., was on Nov. 20 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Decatur.

Mrs. Turpin was born Sept. 27, 1926, in Hammond, La., to Adele Marie and Donald Douglas Herbert.

She spent more than 60 years as a resident of Natchez, where she was active at Trinity Episcopal Church.

In her long and varied bookkeeping career, she worked at Johns Manville, Cole’s Department Store and Approved Machinery Corporation. She served as secretary for the Pilgrimage Garden Club and secretary to former Mayor Tony Byrne before launching a second career in the restaurant business.

Mrs. Turpin and Loveta Byrne renovated the old Natchez Depot building and opened the Sidetrack Restaurant in the early 1970s. Several years later when another historic building became available, Mrs. Turpin’s connections from her Pilgrimage Garden Club days were key in securing the oldest building on the Natchez Trace, King’s Tavern where she opened the Post House restaurant with partner Bobbye Porter. In the late 1980s, Mrs. Turpin partnered with Leola Ables, former kitchen manager at the Post House, and opened Westbank Eatery on the banks of the Mississippi River in Vidalia. She spent more than 30 years in the restaurant business in the Miss-Lou where she loved hosting friends and family, meeting new people and mentoring the young staff.

Mrs. Turpin was preceded in death by her husband, Howard Lindsey Turpin Jr.

Survivors include her brother, Donald D. Herbert Jr. and his wife, Ann, of Meridian; sister, Joan Herbert Weaver of Mobile, Ala.; daughter, Dodie Turpin Hall and her husband, Darius, of Decatur; daughter, Laura Turpin Smith of Decatur; son, Howard Lindsey Turpin III of Stockton, Calif.; five beloved grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to St. John’s Episcopal Church in Decatur or Trinity Episcopal Church in Natchez.