
Roy Joseph Turner (6 November 1894-11 June 1973) was the Democratic Governor of Oklahoma from 13 January 1947 to 8 January 1951, succeeding Robert S. Kerr and preceding Johnston Murray.
Biography[]
Roy Joseph Turner was born in Kendrick, Oklahoma Territory in 1894, and he worked as a bookkeeper for a parking company in Oklahoma City and as a tire salesman before serving in the US Army during World War I and becoming a realtor. Turner's greatest success was establishing an oil company in 1928, and he settled on a ranch in Sulphur, while also serving on the Oklahoma City school board from 1939 to 1946. Turner served as Governor from 1947 to 1951 and as Treasurer of the Democratic National Committee from 1951 to 1952, and, as governor, he oversaw the desegregation of Oklahoma's higher education system and created the state turnpike system and the college board of regents. He later became an actor and singer, and he died in 1973.