Pennsylvania family shares memories of beloved 'Pappy,' who died in Venice following Ian

Paul Turek was looking forward to retiring to Venice to spend his time metal detecting along the sandy beaches and expanding his collection of old coins and knickknacks.

Pamela Turek, his wife of 32 years, said her husband had been wanting to move since he retired as a boiler maker, but the two had decided to wait to move into the house they owned until after their granddaughter's graduation.

They’d already moved most of their belongings into the house and made plans to be moved in by June.

Affectionately called Pappy by his grandkids, nieces and nephews, Paul Turek, 60, was an avid outdoorsman. He loved to hunt, fish, go to flea markets and thrift stores, walk along the beach and look for “Charlie, the purple turtle.”

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Pamela Turek recalled the inside joke her husband would often pull with family and those in their hometown of Drumore, Pennsylvania. It had been something he’d grown up with.

Every time he’d catch someone off guard, he’d yell “Hey, look,” and as soon as they’d inevitably fall for the trick, he’d call out, “Charlie, the purple turtle!”

He often couldn’t be caught off guard himself, but on one occasion, his son-in-law, Matt Hass, was able to pull off the unimaginable feat. Hass fondly remembered the moment, which was caught on camera, when his father-in-law unsuspectingly looked over during a fishing expedition to where Hass had pointed and was caught looking for the purple turtle.

Paul Turek died on Oct. 2, a few days after Hurricane Ian swept through Southwest Florida. The combination of stress from the damage, cleaning up, and heat caused him to have a heart attack outside his Venice home, his wife said.

“Now I don’t even know if I can stay there,” Pamela Turek said. “He died right on my driveway, right in front of my bedroom.”

Paul Turek suffered a heart attack a few years prior, which lead him to have quadruple bypass surgery, his wife said.

“We’d planned on getting old together,” Pamela Turek said.

Pamela Turek is now caught between her home in Pennsylvania already being sold and dealing with an insurance company not wanting to help, as the couple only had hurricane coverage, and not flood and wind coverage as well.

An online fundraiser was started to help Pamela Turek with paying bills and expenses as she navigates the loss of her husband and restoring the Venice home. The fundraiser can be found on Ever Loved by searching Paul Turek's name or by following the link.

A loving and caring family man, protective of those closest to him

Pamela and Paul Turek met at her parent’s bar. She recalled how persistent he was, telling everyone he met how he was going to marry Pamela. She ended up marrying her best friend and the two, along with Pamela Turek’s toddler daughters — Alicia and Tasha Cox — formed a tight-knit family.

Tasha Cox, who lives right by her parents in Pennsylvania, formed a close connection with her stepfather from an early age.

The two would often go fishing in the early hours of the morning, and on their way home, they would stop by a movie rental to pick out a scary movie. They’d alternate choosing different scary movies to see who could choose the scarier one, Cox said.

During one particular fishing expedition, when Cox was almost a teenager, she recalled having fallen asleep on the boat. The next thing she knew, Paul Turek woke her up by throwing a life jacket at her and told her the boat was sinking.

However, the water that had been on the boat was for the live bait tank and the boat wasn’t sinking at all. Cox would poke fun at her dad ever since that day.

When she started a family of her own, Cox’s youngest daughter, Taya, seemed to form a special connection with her Pappy. Cox said her youngest loved to hug him and get Pappy kisses.

“She loved him, and they always wrestled around and played, and she’d steal his hat,” Cox said.

One of the last photos Cox took was of Paul Turek and his granddaughters playing on the couch as they always did.

Paul Turek noticed his granddaughter’s love for looking for things and so he bought Taya her very own metal detector so the two could search for treasures together. They’d often find coins, sometimes toy cars, and once, Taya’s eyes lit up as she found a ring on the beach.

Cox said her dad had brought it with him and hid it for Taya to find as a nice surprise.

When he wasn’t metal detecting on the beach, he and Hass would drive over to the battlefields near Gettysburg where they often found old coins and bullet casings.

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On Sundays, the family would gather together for a big breakfast, and Paul Turek could often be found drinking strawberry milk. On Halloween, he’d dress up in a mask and jump out of bushes to scare passers-by.

Despite being opposites, Pamela and Paul Turek, both enjoyed going to the beach. She’d often search for seashells, and he’d be happy with his metal detector scanning back and forth in sweeping motions. If he ever went to the beach by himself though, Paul Turek would find seashells to bring home to his wife.

During their marriage, they’d often be apart for four to five months on end as Paul Turek was away for work and Pamela Turek would stay home with the kids.

Whenever they were together, they’d take vacations to Disney World or visit Paul Turek’s family in Venice. It was part of the reason he wanted to move to Florida to be closer to his parents and siblings.

For the last two years, Paul and Pamela Turek spent lots of time together because of the pandemic.

It’s little solace for Pamela Turek, however, as she will never hear her best friend’s jokes again or see him watching his favorite history movies or wait to see what treasures he’d bring back from his metal hunting expeditions.

"It's really hard when you lose your best friend," Pamela Turek said.

Her husband's collectibles — the old coins and Civil War bullets found while metal detecting and his antiques he'd thrifted over the years — now sit boxed up in her home,  a reminder of what's missing.

Cox said her family is thinking of getting matching purple turtle tattoos — a way to honor Paul Turek’s memory and a reminder to keep their guards up so they aren’t caught off guard looking for Charlie, the purple turtle.

Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Hurricane Ian deaths: Family shares life of Venice retiree Paul Turek