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Bruce Willis Turner was born in Salina, Utah, and grew up in Loa, Utah.  His Dad had a farm where they raised cattle, sheep and pigs. Bruce learned the value of hard work and enjoyed the farm life.  He had his own flock of chickens, geese and rabbits, cats and dogs.  From the age of four, Bruce had a very tender heart and knew that one day he wanted to be a funeral director.  Anytime an animal on the farm would die, little Bruce would insist on holding a funeral.  Cows, pigs, chickens, cats - Bruce held services for them all.  

One morning, as he was coming down the stairs for breakfast, he overheard his father whispering to his mother, “Don’t tell Bruce – but another cow died, and we don’t need another animal funeral!”  Bruce’s father assumed he would want to become a farmer and take over the farm, as he was then the chore boy, but Bruce couldn’t wait to grow up and become a “real” funeral director.  All he ever wanted in life was to have the opportunity to care for and serve people.  

Bruce’s compassionate ways were also evident as a teenager.  Anytime a viewing and/or funeral was being held in Wayne County, he would sneak out of school to attend.  He was fascinated with the funeral profession and especially enjoyed watching the funeral directors in action.  Eventually, his school principal would tell him to “go ahead and go” when a funeral was being held.  His teachers also knew that Bruce’s heart was in the funeral profession and felt that would be his calling in life.

Bruce graduated from Wayne High School Class of 1971 and attended what would later become known as Southern Utah University in Cedar City.  He then served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bolivia, where he became known as the “Bolivian Mortician”.  Upon his return from Bolivia, Bruce attended Dixie College in St. George, graduated, and was married.  Bruce moved to southern California, to attend the California College of Mortuary Science in downtown Los Angeles.  After six months, the school moved to Cypress College where he received his degree in mortuary science, graduating with honors.  While going to school at UCLA (Undertakers College of Los Angeles), he worked at Neals Brea Mortuary in Brea, California.

Upon graduation, Bruce applied for a job at Palm Mortuary in Las Vegas, Nevada.  When the interviewer discovered that Bruce was LDS and an Eagle Scout, he was hired on the spot.  Bruce worked in Las Vegas for five years and was involved in some very high-profile cases.  He assisted with many of the casualties resulting from the infamous MGM fire of 1980, where 87 people perished and over 700 were injured, and the  Las Vegas Hilton fire of 1981 where eight people died.  He took care of Joe Lewis, the famous boxer, and facilitated his burial at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC.  He had the opportunity to meet Liberace and buried his mother and brother.  He also assisted with the burial of Totie Fields and Wayne Newton’s right-hand man, along with several other famous people.  Living in Vegas gave him the opportunity to learn and grow in the funeral business and gain lasting lifelong friendships.

Bruce decided that he didn’t want to raise his children in Las Vegas, plus being a little homesick, and he wanted to live closer to his family in Wayne County, so when he received a job offer from J.D. Springer of Springer Mortuary of Richfield and Salina, he gladly accepted.  He relocated to Richfield in 1981, and while living at the funeral home, raised his family of nine children with his wonderful wife, Marie. 

Bruce loved teaching his children to help out where needed - vacuuming floors, washing cars, mowing lawns, setting up for funeral services, etc. Tragically in 1984 his father was killed in an accident on his farm in Loa and Bruce had the difficult task of embalming and caring for his own father. In 1989 J.D. Springer passed away, at which time Bruce became a full partner with J.H. Springer and the mortuary was renamed Springer Turner Funeral Home. Joe Jr. passed away in 2017 and Bruce became the sole owner of Springer Turner Funeral Home.

Bruce has lived in Richfield for the past 40 years.  He loves the area and is grateful for the opportunity of serving so many friends and neighbors.  During those years he has had the opportunity to care for many of his family members at the time of their deaths, including his parents, siblings, classmates and their families, aunts, uncles, cousins and many of his teachers from elementary school, junior high school and high school.  

Bruce served on the Utah State Board of Funeral Directors for eight years, was awarded the Life-time Service Award in 2022 and is a member of the Lions Club and the Rotary Club.  He is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has served as counselor to two bishoprics.  He taught early morning seminary in Las Vegas and he has held numerous other callings including Executive Secretary in the Richfield 7th Ward; High Priest Group Leader; Elder’s Quorum President; Sunday School President; Primary and Sunday school teacher and young men’s leader.

Bruce says that the funeral profession is a calling and a spiritual event.  It’s not just a job, but one of the joys of his life.  He is truly happy to go to work every day and feels fortunate to be able to help people in their time of need.  Bruce loves his community and wishes there was a way to provide his services for free.  There have been a lot of changes in the business during his lifetime, but the bottom line is still service to family and community.

As he still lives at the funeral home, he is on-call 24/7 and appreciates the opportunity to respond to calls as needed.  Bruce and Marie now have 35 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, with 2 more great-grandchildren on the way.

Bruce is thrilled to now have his two oldest sons, Matthew, who joined him in the business in 2006, and Michael, who came to work in 2020, working alongside him at the funeral home as his partners.  He also appreciates all the folks in the five-county area that have put their trust in Springer Turner Funeral Home at their time of need and he looks forward to serving them in the future. 

Kate Rees Barlow was born in Orem, Utah. She and her family lived up north for the duration of her childhood in Salem, Utah. Kate loved spending her time with friends and enjoyed the conveniences the area had to offer. At least once a month, her family would travel to Wayne County to spend the weekend and most of the holidays with her grandparents. Both of Kate’s parents are from Wayne County. She always felt a connection with the people and the area her ancestors had worked so hard to cultivate. She developed a love for Wayne County at a young age, and always looked forward to spending time on her grandparents’ ranch and visiting family members. In the summer of 2015, the Rees’ decided to move back to Wayne County. Kate was thrilled! She and her family moved to Teasdale.

The transition of going from a large 4A school to a 1A school was definitely an adjustment, but one she loved. She joked that her cousins were already built-in friends. Kate played a few high school sports and was a member of FFA and the Honor Society. High school years in Wayne county were spent with friends, working, riding horses, being outdoors often, and spending time with family. She was able to start working at Fremont River Veterinary Clinic during her senior year of high school and learned to love the profession. During high school, Kate met and started dating Devan Barlow. She graduated from Wayne High School with the class of 2018.

Kate began attending Utah Tech University (previously known as Dixie State University) in the fall of 2018. She graduated in the spring of 2020 with an Associates Degree in General Science. She worked for a veterinary clinic in the area and was originally thinking of going to veterinary school. During her last semester at Dixie, she knew veterinary medicine was no longer her goal. She thought and stressed over different avenues for a career for months. The thought of funeral service popped into her head and never left. She knew she needed to pursue the idea.

During this time, she and Devan Barlow continued their relationship after he returned from an LDS mission in the summer of 2019. They were married in June 2020, and have enjoyed the past three years of marriage. Devan and Kate moved back to Wayne county in the spring of 2021 after living in St. George for several years. Kate had discussed working for Springer Turner Funeral Home prior to the move, and she started her new job with the mortuary in April. Although funeral service is quite a transition from the veterinary world, Kate has enjoyed the work. She knew she needed to finish school, and decided to apply for the Mortuary Science program at SLCC. She was accepted and spent around 15 months splitting her time between traveling to Salt Lake and being home in Wayne County. Kate recently graduated in April 2023 with an Associates Degree in Mortuary Science and in June passed her board exams to become a licensed funeral director. She is excited to continue her career with Springer Turner Funeral Home.

She and Devan enjoy spending time together, whether it’s being outdoors, making meals, or just being at their home in Fremont. They spend time with both of their families, and, of course, their adored dogs. She admits she is still the crazy dog lady! Kate loves baking, reading, caring for her collection of houseplants, and hiking with her dogs. She and Devan are both members of the LDS faith and enjoy their current callings.

Kate has enjoyed working in funeral service for the past few years. She has loved getting to know and meet people within the five-county area. It is dreadful to see people in some of their most difficult hours, but she hopes she can be a positive influence and serve those in need. Kate is grateful to be learning more about the funeral industry from Bruce, Matt, and Michael and can’t wait to continue the work.

Michael Taylor was born in Richfield and has family roots extending back to the original settlers on his mother’s side. His parents divorced when he was still little and his mom and 3 siblings moved into a small house on the east side of town next to his grandparents.  During this time, Michael’s mom, Marie, met, dated, and married funeral director Bruce Turner. The family then moved into the Richfield Funeral Home.

Bruce grew up on a farm in Wayne County where he was expected to pitch in and help out, and extended the same philosophy to the funeral home. All of the kids, including Michael, were expected to participate in the day-to-day tasks. They set up chairs for funeral services, cleaned the building, washed cars, tended to the grounds, and helped with the casketing of  bodies.  Anytime a casket had to be pushed through a narrow doorway and their hands would scrape on a door frame, Bruce would remind them, “your hands will heal, but the casket won’t!” Michael admits that growing up in a funeral home had its perks. There were many sleepovers and parties held in the chapel throughout his childhood, and he and his siblings were inventive in finding ways to scare friends and dates with stories and informal tours. He learned to play guitar and the mortuary chapel was the favored practice space for his high school rock bands. He also sang in the Sounds Celebration choir and there developed a love of music that has stayed with him throughout his life.

Michael graduated from Richfield High School in 2001.  He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in San Fernando, CA, from 2002-2004.  Following his mission, he worked at the funeral home for a year before deciding the funeral profession wasn’t for him.

In 2005, Michael took a summer job in Alaska working as a trim carpenter with his brother, Matt, and decided to stay in Alaska after Matt returned home to Sevier county to join Bruce working at the funeral home. Michael was married in 2006 and started a family that grew to 6 children.  He continued working as a trim carpenter while putting himself through school, and he also owned and operated a small trailer and truck dealership specializing in utility trailers.  He did all of his own hauling, driving 3,000 miles one-way along the Alcan Highway five or six times per year in the summer and fall. 

Michael earned three degrees from the University of Alaska:  an A.A.S. in Accounting, a B.S. in Finance, and a second B.S. in Business Management with an emphasis in real estate. In 2014, he began working in a commercial property management brokerage in Anchorage and continued in that profession until the end of 2019.  He was promoted to the position of broker in the company during his final two years.  

In 2019, Michael began to feel drawn back to family and to give his kids the opportunity to spend time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  His experience in the property management profession was often high stress and adversarial, particularly in the aftermath of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake in November, 2018, which damaged infrastructure and created tension and conflict between owners and tenants. While he was capable of doing the work, he found it was inconsistent with his natural inclinations towards patience and kindness. He and his family began to look around for other opportunities. It was during this time that his brother Matt called and offered what he thought was a longshot: an offer for Michael to return to work for the family business. He was shocked when the answer was yes.

Michael came to realize that the reason he hadn't been invested in the funeral profession when he was younger - he hadn’t yet lost anyone close to him. While living in Alaska a close friend was diagnosed with dementia and passed away. His friend’s wife opted for cremation with no formal service or viewing. Without the closure that a funeral service brings, Michael struggled to accept the passing of his friend and experienced firsthand the value of funeral services for those that are left behind.

Upon returning to Richfield in January, 2020, Michael and his family moved into the funeral home and he began working as an assistant funeral director. He put his past work experience to use at the funeral home, participating in management, marketing, bookkeeping, and facilities maintenance. In 2022 he earned his A.A.S. in Mortuary Science from Arapahoe Community College and became a fully licensed funeral director in February of 2023.

Michael is the proud father of four boys and two girls:  Liam (14), Aidan (12), Ethan (11), Miriam (9), Vivian (6), and Keenan (4). He is currently juggling working and being a single father, but is pleased to have his children with him 5 ½ months out of the year, enjoying the same quirky and unique lifestyle that he experienced growing up in a funeral home. He is so thankful for the support he receives from his family, who assist him in raising his beautiful children. 

Michael has many hobbies and interests.  He loves singing, playing guitar, and skating. He was a member of a boxing gym in Alaska and enjoyed sparring every Saturday for many months before moving away. In the absence of a local boxing gym, he still loves the sport and looks for every opportunity to watch it, participate in it, and share it with others. As he got into boxing, Michael also got more into running (or “road work” as it’s known by boxers). In 2022, he participated in the Crimson Canyons 10k, a trail running race that took place in the Red Hills west of Richfield, and took third place overall.  He also raced in the 5k and 10k events at the Utah Valley Marathon, where he placed 2nd and 3rd place in his age group. Michael enjoys camping, fishing, hiking, and many other outdoor activities. He’s also recently been learning to dance, including ballroom, western swing, and square dancing.

Michael has been an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints his entire life.  He loves being a funeral director and intends to stay in the profession indefinitely. He loves the opportunity it gives him to show compassion and kindness to those in need. He finds joy in helping people during what is often one of the most difficult challenges they will experience.  He loves and appreciates the people in the five-county area who have put their trust in Springer Turner Funeral Home, and he looks forward to being of service now and in the future.