Tributes have been paid to a lifelong Warminster resident and former shopkeeper who died recently, aged 90.
Diana Turner was a ‘legendary’ shopkeeper who ran The Baby Shop and Schooldays in George Street. She served thousands of local people throughout the 56 years she owned the shop.
Diana opened the shop in 1958 with her sister-in-law, Kitty Woods. Initially, they sold babywear, but soon branched into school uniforms, children’s wear, knitting wools and haberdashery.
“This place was Diana’s kingdom, and her many friends were just as likely to pop in for a chat or a copy of the Journal as they were to shop,” said Chris Turner, Diana’s son.
Diana was born in Furlong, Warminster, in May 1935. She attended The Avenue School, where she excelled in sports including the high jump and long jump. She left school in 1950 and went to work at Jack Harraway’s seed merchants in Pound Street.
There, she became close friends with Jack’s daughter, Ruth, who later married Bristol City and England footballer John Atyeo.
In the mid-1950s, she moved to the 27th Command Workshops REME, where she met her future husband, Bernard Turner, a sheet metal worker. They married in February 1957 at the Minster Church and had three children: Christopher, a web developer; Michael, a local carpenter and joiner; and David, an IT manager with Worcester Boisch.
“One of Diana’s claims to fame was that she ‘invented’ the school uniform for The Minster School,” said Chris.
“In those days, the school had no formal uniform, so Diana sent her children to school in green jumpers and ties she had made. Over time, more and more mums started to buy the smart school uniforms for their children voluntarily, until a significant proportion of the children were wearing them.
“Eventually, the school adopted the green and white colour scheme as their own. Diana also provided uniforms for all the local schools.”
Diana’s husband, Bernard, died in 1997, after which she took companionship in her close friend Lyall Murray, who had also been widowed. He accompanied her to local dances, as Diana was a keen dancer, and they holidayed together. He died in 2014.
“Diana continued to run The Baby Shop until 2014, a total of 56 years, by which time the dementia that affected her in later life was beginning to show,” said Chris.
“After a period of independent living, Diana went to live at Ashwood Care Centre in 2016, just a few hundred metres from where she was born, and where she became a much-loved and sociable resident.”
Diana’s funeral took place at the Minster Church on 1st December.
