by Marc and Julie Anderson
mjanderson@theleaven.org
TOPEKA — Don Turner may have retired 25 years ago, but his former students have never forgotten him.
As the first gym teacher at Most Pure Heart of Mary School in southwest Topeka, the former professional basketball player served for 32 years. The school, which originally served students in first through eighth grades, eventually added kindergarten and a preschool. And from 1969 to 2001, every student in kindergarten through eighth grade was taught by the man known as Mr. Turner.
On March 3, students, faculty, staff and alumni formally recognized the impact Turner had by naming the gymnasium after him during a kickoff event aimed at raising $500,000 to renovate the gym, starting with replacing the aging glass block windows this summer. Other planned improvements include adding air conditioning to the gym, upgrading the bleachers and repairing the ceiling insulation.
A formal dedication ceremony is planned, but in the meantime, the Don Turner Gymnasium will stand as a tribute to the man who shaped the lives of nearly 2,000 students, including Mark Turgeon (a member of the 1988 national championship team at KU who later became a basketball coach) and Rob Reilly (a member of the 1987 national championship team from Washburn University in Topeka), neither of whom forgot Turner.
In fact, Reilly reached out to the Golden State Warriors (known as the San Francisco Warriors in 1963 when the team drafted Turner). The team sent congratulatory wishes in a video.
Reilly wasn’t the only one who never forgot Turner. The class of 1980 held a reunion in October 2025, inviting faculty and staff from their time at the school. During the reunion, class members learned about the planned renovations, and that’s when Charlie Applehanz, Eric Deitcher and Mark Thompson began their campaign to honor their beloved teacher and coach.
During the school year, Turner could always be found on campus. Whether it was setting up the tetherball courts, painting the playground’s four courts or selling sweatshirts and T-shirts, he often arrived early. After school, he coached football, basketball, track or wrestling (depending on the season) and attended athletic events of former students. He recruited referees and coaches, organized photo shoots and ensured the school had the right athletic equipment.
Throughout the school day, Turner led the school’s physical education classes, constantly looking for ways to engage the kids, called square dances, taught them “The Hustle” and led them in a kickball game or hula hoop contest. He brought field day to the school, distributing thousands of ribbons for participation and prizes for the day’s various events. (He, his late wife and his daughter, Julie, spent many hours meticulously cutting thousands of ribbons every year.)
“He was devoted to all the students he ever had. And I know growing up, I heard so many stories about the families, the students, and they were all kind of like my siblings,” Julie said.
Those “siblings” have nothing but praise for her father.
“It’s only appropriate that [the gym] would be dedicated to a gentleman like Mr. Turner, and that’s the thing that I think of with Mr. Turner — such a class act and such a gentleman always wanting to do the right thing,” said Deitcher. “I can remember as a kid him talking about how he could teach at a public school and make more money, but he really likes it here. That meant a lot to me, because a lot of people would chase the money. It’s easy. I get it. But he wasn’t after the money.”
Thompson agreed.
“He was very influential,” he said.
“I think the word really is selfless,” Appelhanz said. “He’s given so much. . . . And so, kids will walk up eventually and see his name, and they may or may not know his story. They may not have had him, but they’re going to know that somebody at some point was selfless enough that the school and the community wanted this for him.”
“I’m just glad I came to Most Pure Heart of Mary,” said Turner. “It’s an honor. I just can’t put it into words.”
For more information about the campaign, go to: mphm.ejoinme.org/DonTurnerGym.
