Herb Turrell friendly truck-driving gentleman

Herb Turrell was a wheeling, dealing king of the road.

A truck driver for more than 60 years, Turrell befriended the road and many folks along the way. He died Jan. 9 at age 80.

His son, Tim Turrell, said the freedom of the road and his dad’s ability to set his own schedule is what kept him behind the wheel until he was 70. “You get in a truck and you’re kind of lord of the highway,” he said.

Herb Turrell made local runs rather than long-haul trucking and enjoyed coming home to his family each night. Even when he wasn’t driving, he could look around and predict what other drivers would do, his son said. The job often meant waking at 2 or 3 a.m., but he’d be home by noon and would find something around the house to work on.

“We had a sort of ‘Leave it to Beaver’ life here,” Tim Turrell said. “There was always somebody here.”

Herb Turrell grew up in Deer Park, and did well in sports. He lettered four years in baseball and football in high school. In 1943 he joined the Navy and married his wife, Marian. They had three boys: Tim, Terry and Tom.

He started out in trucking after returning home from World War II and continued to drive until 2001. During his time on the road, he drove for large and small trucking companies in the Northwest.

Turrell was recognized for safely wheeling his big rigs down the road by the National Transportation Safety Council’s million-mile safety club and he received a lifetime achievement award from the American Truck Historical Society. He also was a Teamster member and American Legion member.

“He took great pride in his driving, his safety and his trucks,” his son said.

In addition to trucking, Turrell enjoyed tinkering with heavy equipment or cars, and he was always eager to set out for a good deal on a new toy.

Tim Turrell said his fondest memories of growing up were spent driving around the area with his dad. They’d often load up an empty trailer and head down the road. The adventure was finding something to bring home, he said.

He said his dad was frugal, sometimes haggling for hours for a 30-year-old car or some piece of machinery. But on the way home, he always had a grin on his face as if he just caught a big fish, Tim Turrell said.

“He had the gift of gab, and he’d talk the person out of it. That’s what he’d do for fun.”

Other times, he planned his trucking trips for Thursday auctions in Bonners Ferry. Tim Turrell said the family never knew what he was going to bring home and he surprised them every once in a while with an old sewing machine or a roll-top desk.

On his off time, Herb Turrell would sit down for a cup of coffee with friend LeRoy Foster and wind up swapping stories or just about anything they could scrounge up.

“He’d take anything,” Foster said. “Then he’d turn that stuff and trade it for something else.”

The two met in 1956 when Turrell made a delivery to Foster. A few years later, Foster hired him to haul freight for the Co-Op Supply in Coeur d’Alene.

Foster said Turrell could make a road full of potholes seem like a cushioned ride. He said he was a gentleman on and off the road, always seeing the better side of anybody or any situation.

On one return trip from Montana, Turrell’s transmission went out and he had to guide his truck home. Foster said they had to run the stop lights on Highway 95 while Tim Turrell flagged away traffic ahead. They returned safely and no one was hurt.

“He was proud of it and he did a hell of a job,” Foster said.