Joshua Robert Turner

Joshua Robert Turner was born on January 31, 2005 to Logan and Kristine Howell Turner. His short 16 years on this earth were full of life and love. On the night of October 19, 2021 this handsome, loving, caring, difficult, funny, sad, hurting, firstborn child decided he didn’t want to go on in this life.

Josh was the first grandchild on one side of the family and the first grandson on the other. To say his birth was highly anticipated is a huge understatement. From the moment Josh was born, he emanated love.

As a young child, Josh loved creating costumes of his favorite characters. He dressed up as everything from Spiderman, to Mr. Incredible, to Tinkerbell, to Russell from Up. He loved playing his characters, and using his imagination. Josh also loved to perform in front of an audience and was excited to participate in many of his elementary school plays. Josh had an angel voice and loved to sing. When he chose to share it with others, they could feel the love he had to give.

Josh was a born storyteller. He didn’t always claim his stories as fiction, but that was part of Josh’s charm. He loved creating. He had a long list of animated characters he created for his YouTube channel “Josh the Red Pen”. If you were asked to voice a character for one of his episodes, that was truly a high honor. Each character had a voice, a personality, and a story to tell. Josh had even begun writing his first novel. He got to chapter 16. Josh wanted everyone to love each other better, and that came through in his stories.

Josh had a lot of struggles in this life. He had Autism Spectrum Disorder, anxiety, and depression. It was a heavy load for such a young man to bear. All he wanted in this life was to be loved and accepted. And he wanted everyone around him to feel loved and accepted. Josh sought out people who were lonely, sad, or different from himself. If he saw someone who seemed sad or was crying, he wanted to cheer them up. If he saw someone in a wheelchair, or missing a limb, someone who had a different skin color, or someone who had a lot of tattoos, someone who he knew was a different religion or had a different sexual orientation he wanted to meet them and know their story. These were the people he gravitated towards. He would approach them, talk to them, and empathize with them. He wanted everyone to feel included. He wanted everyone to feel accepted. He wanted everyone to feel loved.

Josh was a Junior at Spectrum Academy in Pleasant Grove, Utah. It’s a wonderful school and was the perfect fit for him. Josh made a lot of good friends there and made an impact on the lives of many peers and teachers.

At the end of every family get-together, Josh would make sure he hugged each of his uncles and tell them he loved them. He impacted so many lives in his short sixteen years. In honor of Josh and his life’s mission to make everyone feel more accepted, please say hi to a stranger. Talk to someone who is different than you. Say “I love you”. Give hugs. Be kinder. Love more. Love harder.

Josh is survived by his loving parents and siblings; Ian, Hayden and Megan. Great Grandpa and Grandma Gallacher. Great Grandma Howell (GG). Grandpa Greg & Grandma Liz Howell. Grandpa Bob and Grandma Beth Turner. Six adoring aunts, seven strong uncles, and seventeen energetic cousins. Josh was proceeded in death by Great Grandpa and Grandma Turner, Papa and Granny, and Great Grandpa Howell.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, October 25, 2021 at 7250 Porters Crossing Parkway in Eagle Mountain, Utah 84005 at 1:00pm. There will be a viewing prior to the funeral from 11:00am to 12:30 pm at the same church. Interment will be at the Highland City Cemetery

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Spectrum Academy. https://spectrumacademy.salsalabs.org/joshuaturner/index.html