Martha Turner Obituary, Cause Of Death – Houston’s real estate matriarch has died unexpectedly. Martha Fuller Turner, a pioneering, self-made local success story, died surrounded by her family in Houston. She was 81 years old at the time.
According to She was born in the East Texas town of Hemphill in 1940, and her real estate empire has grown to $2.5 billion in sales (as of 2021). She credited her early days of helping out at her parents’ feed store, Fuller’s Dry Goods, Feed, Seed, and Fertilizer, with helping her build her renowned work ethic. The North Texas University graduate married and began a 15-year teaching career, supplementing her income by selling wigs and even encyclopedias door-to-door.
As reported as by houston.culturemap.com, Her longest teaching position was at River Oaks Baptist School, when she began building and selling houses, sparking an interest in real estate. She retired in 1979, obtained a real estate license, and sold her first home for $78,000 the same year. Turner Owens Real Estate was founded two years later, in the midst of a difficult local economic climate, by the unyielding Turner. In 1986, the company became known as Martha Turner Properties.
Turner retired from day-to-day administration in 2015 and assumed the title of chairman emeritus, but she remained active in civic, philanthropic, and social activity. She was a regular at A-list social gatherings and a staunch supporter of women in business, the arts (she minored in music in college), and, appropriately, education. Turner was cordial in social situations, generous with a word, and exuded her usual humility, despite her local, regional, and national success.
