`GRIFFITH PARK MAYOR' TURNER, 91.Byline: Stacy Brown Daily News Staff Writer Memorial services will be held Sunday for Charlie Turner, a World War II veteran and gardener who came to be known as the ``Mayor of Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large public park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is situated in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers 4,210 acres (17 km²) of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America. .'' Turner died Friday at a Burbank convalescent con·va·les·cent adj. Relating to convalescence. n. A person who is recovering from an illness, an injury, or a surgical operation. convalescent 1. pertaining to or characterized by convalescence. 2. home. He was 91. Born in Britain, Turner became the unofficial caretaker in 1978 for the famed garden spot atop Griffith Park, called Dante's View Dante's View is a viewpoint terrace placed at 5,475 feet (1.669 meters) height, North side of Coffin Peack, in crest of Black Mountains, at approximately 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Furnace Creek towards the Greenwater Valley, in Death Valley, California, U.S.. , after its namesake Dante Orgolini died. During World War II, Turner served in France with the Canadian military. He held a series of odd jobs odd jobs npl → chapuzas fpl odd jobs npl → petits travaux divers odd jobs odd npl → through his life: cabin boy on steamships out of his hometown of Liverpool, a hotel deskman desk·man n. A man who works at a desk, especially a newspaper writer. Noun 1. deskman - the police sergeant on duty in a police station desk sergeant, station keeper and an insurance clerk in Los Angeles. Griffith Park Ranger Lloyd Payne said Turner was the mayor of the park, making it his private oasis and even starting a fund-raiser to reconstruct the garden after wildfires virtually destroyed it. He once rode in a Rose Bowl float patterned after an urban hiker. According to friends, Turner, after his hiking days were done, often received rides from city employees up to the garden, which, at 1,400 feet, overlooks the entire downtown skyline. Tom LaBonge, an aide to Mayor Richard Riordan and a friend of Turner, said Sunday's 10 a.m. memorial service will be held at Dante's View in Griffith Park. |
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