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Gov. Charles W. Turnbull to Lie in State on Three Islands Aug. 10, 11, 12

National Guardsmen in Formal Dress Wait to Serve as A Governor’s Escort. (Photo by Judi Shimel)

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. has announced the schedule of events in honor of former Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, whose body will lie in state at Government House on St. Croix and St. Thomas and The Battery on St. John.

Additionally, there is a candlelight service planned that will take place at Emancipation Garden on St. Thomas, as well as a funeral service at Christchurch Methodist and interment at Eastern Cemetery, followed by a repast at Fort Christian on St. Thomas.

The schedule is as follows:
• August 10: Governor Turnbull will lie in state at Government House in Christiansted, St. Croix, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• August 11: Governor Turnbull will lie in state at The Battery in Cruz Bay, St. John, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• August 12: Governor Turnbull will lie in state at Government House on St. Thomas from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A candlelight vigil will take place in Emancipation Garden on St. Thomas from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
• August 13: A viewing will take place at Christchurch Methodist Church at 9 a.m.
The funeral service will take place at Christchurch Methodist Church at 10 a.m.
Interment at Eastern Cemetery on St. Thomas immediately after the funeral service.
Repast will take place at Fort Christian on St. Thomas following interment.

The public is invited to attend all events.

From left: In 2014, former governors Roy L. Schneider, Charles W. Turnbull, John deJongh Jr. and Kenneth Mapp gathered on the steps of Government House on St. Thomas for a meeting of the minds. (Source file photo)

Turnbull was the sixth-elected governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, serving two terms, from 1999 through 2006. Born on St. Thomas on Feb. 6, 1935, he attended public school and graduated from the Charlotte Amalie High School, a school he would later lead as its principal.

After traveling to the U.S. mainland to earn a bachelor’s and a master’s degree – followed later by a doctorate from the University of Minnesota and an honorary doctorate from the University of the Virgin Islands – Turnbull came home to teach. Education became his career. He rose in the ranks from teacher to administrator, and along the way added a doctorate degree in school administration. By the mid-1970s Turnbull became assistant commissioner, then commissioner at the Department of Education.

From his post at Education, Turnbull promoted broader knowledge of Caribbean history and culture for students in public schools.

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