Joseph Turtil

Joseph F. Turtil, of Ring House, Rockville, MD, previously of Leisure World, Silver Spring, MD, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother in-law, and uncle, died June 25, 2020, at the age of 92 of natural causes.

Joe was born in Vienna, Austria, August 15, 1927.  He, his mother, father, and sister Regina fled Austria in 1938 after their home and business were sacked by city police and local NAZIs, and his mother and grandparents arrested.  For nine months, the Turtils lived as refugees in Italy and Switzerland, denied proper papers to enter any safe country.  They were saved by the Affidavits of Support written by family (Mayers/Magenheims/Panzers) living in the U.S.  However, Joe’s paternal grandparents along with 18 other family members perished in the Holocaust.

Joe served in Korea in 1946-47, drafting maps for the US Army.  He received a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from The Cooper Union, NY, in 1949.  He married the love of his life, Estelle (nee Heifferman) in 1951 and together raised four sons.  His career in engineering led to specialization in attitude control systems for the NIMBUS and ATS-6 satellites, and on systems in the Bios, TIROS and COBE satellites, and computer and train systems.  In his leisure time, Joe enjoyed travels with his wife throughout Europe and relaxing visits to Barbados, camping with his sons and Boy Scout Troop 110 in Bucks County, Pa, furniture building, gardening, classical music, and going to the theatre.  He was an avid bridge player.

Joe was predeceased by his wife of 64 years, Estelle, in March 2015.  He is survived by sons Dr. Lawrence Turtil and his wife Emily, and grandchildren Jacob and Alexandra Turtil, of Westchester, NY;  Steven Turtil, Robert Turtil and Mary Dowling, and Richard Turtil and fiancé Stacy Wong, of suburban MD; sisters-in-law Sybil Gold and Laura Heifferman, and numerous nieces and nephews.  Donations in his memory are requested to be made to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), an organization that helped his family while they were refugees in Switzerland.  “HIAS works around the world to protect refugees who have been forced to flee their homelands because of who they are, including ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities.  For more than 130 years, HIAS has been helping refugees rebuild their lives in safety and dignity.”  https://www.hias.org/