Geills "Jill" McCrae Turner ( Kilgour; born December 23, 1937) is a Canadian businesswoman and the widow of

John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Opposit ...

, the 17th

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons ...

Early life and work

Turner, the eldest of three children, was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. She is the grand-niece of

John McCrae Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae (November 30, 1872 – January 28, 1918) was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium. He is best known for writing th ...

, author of the poem ''

In Flanders Fields "In Flanders Fields" is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend ...

'', and the sister of long time

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

member of Parliament

David Kilgour David William Kilgour (February 18, 1941 – April 5, 2022) was a Canadian human rights activist, author, lawyer, and politician. He also served as a senior fellow to the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. Kilgour earned a degree in ...

. Her father was David Kilgour, Sr., who was the chief executive officer of Great West Life Assurance Company. Turner grew up in a wealthy family. She excelled in science and mathematics, graduating from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

with a degree in math and physics. She enrolled in the post-graduate business administration course at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. After graduating from Harvard, she left the United States since investment firms in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

were not interested in hiring a woman. Turner moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

to work for

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

. Author

Gordon Donaldson Gordon Donaldson (13 April 1913 – 16 March 1993) was a Scottish historian. Life He was born in a tenement at 140 McDonald RoadEdinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory, 1912 off Leith Walk in northern Edinburgh on 13 April 1913 the so ...

called her an "upper-crust pretty

irl IRL may refer to: Arts and media * ''IRL'' (2013 film), a Swedish drama film about a high school student tormented by peers * IRL (2019 film), an American drama film about "the ups and downs of online dating and modern dating" * ''IRL'' (album), ...

. She met John Turner when she was a campaign worker for his first election campaign and she "brought computers into Turner's campaign." They married in 1963 and had three children: Elizabeth (born 1964), Michael (born 1965), David (1968–2021), and James Andrew (born 1972).

Spouse of the prime minister

Her husband served as prime minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984. The

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

states that "she was not keen to subsume her personality to further her husband’s goals, and for the most part stayed out of the spotlight." She also did not like the way she was portrayed in the press and therefore tried to stay away from it. In his book ''Birds of a Feather: The Press and the Politicians'',

Allan Fotheringham Allan Fotheringham (August 31, 1932August 19, 2020) was a Canadian newspaper and magazine journalist. He styled himself Dr. Foth and "the Great Gatheringfroth". He was described as "never at a loss for words". Early life Fotheringham was born ...

claimed that Turner tried to exact her revenge on the press during the 1988 election campaign by secretly taking photographs of journalists partying on a

campaign bus A campaign bus (also referred to as a battle bus in the UK) is a bus used as both a vehicle and a center of operations during a political campaign, whether for a specific candidate, a political party, or a political cause. A campaign bus can als ...

, with an eye toward publishing them in a magazine. The photographs were never subsequently published, however, and Fotheringham states that John Turner himself most likely killed the idea.

Later life

After the family returned to Toronto, Turner enrolled in a four-year photography program at

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District in downtown Toronto, although i ...

. In 2001, Turner made news when she crashed her minivan and was charged for careless driving. She stated that she had momentarily stopped driving responsibly to save her dog. In March 2008, Turner brought an action in the

Ontario Superior Court of Justice The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...

against the City of

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, claiming ownership of several of John McCrae's wartime medals, which had been donated to the

McCrae House McCrae House, located in Guelph, Ontario, is the birthplace of John McCrae (b. 1872 – d. 1918), doctor, soldier and author of the famous First World War poem "In Flanders Fields". The house is a National Historic Site of Canada. History Thi ...

in 1997 and 2005. She was seeking to have personal possession of the medals. The action was settled in 2012 with an agreement for the medals to remain with the museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Geills 1937 births Harvard Business School alumni IBM employees Canadian computer specialists Living people Politicians from Winnipeg Spouses of prime ministers of Canada McGill University Faculty of Science alumni

Early life and work

Spouse of the prime minister

Later life

See also

References