A Legacy of Kindness
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Chamber Report
By Jessie Gurner
Water Valley has lost a very special man.
Some people are so much a part of a community that it is difficult to imagine the town without them. Binnie Turnage was one of those people.
For generations, Turnage Drug Store has been more than a business on Main Street. It has been a place where neighbors were greeted by name, kindness was part of the service, and caring for people meant far more than filling prescriptions. Binnie helped make it that way.
A man of deep faith, quiet humility, and genuine love for his family and hometown, Binnie didn’t simply talk about his beliefs. He lived them, day after day, in the way he treated others, conducted his business, and gave of himself to the community.
Binnie returned home to Water Valley in 1962 to join the family business established by his grandfather in 1905. He carried on a tradition of service that continues today through the fourth generation of the Turnage family.
More than six decades behind the pharmacy counter gave Binnie an opportunity to know generations of Water Valley families. Customers became friends, and those friendships became part of the fabric of our town. His legacy reminds us that the success of a hometown business is measured not simply by how long its doors remain open, but by the lives it touches along the way.
In 2025, the Water Valley Area Chamber of Commerce was proud to recognize Turnage Drug Store as Business of the Year. It was a particularly meaningful occasion to see Binnie accept that honor, surrounded by the family he loved and members of the community he had served so faithfully. Few businesses better represent the qualities that make Water Valley special.
We often talk about the importance of shopping locally and supporting our hometown businesses. Binnie’s life offers a reminder of why those businesses matter. They are built by people who invest not only their money and time, but their hearts, in the places they call home.
Water Valley is fortunate to have men and women who spend their lives making this a better place for others. Binnie Turnage was certainly one of them.
The Chamber extends its heartfelt sympathy to his wife, Jo, the entire Turnage family, and the many friends who will miss him.
The doors of Turnage Drug Store will continue to open, and the family tradition Binnie treasured will carry on. There is something comforting about knowing that. But Main Street will be a little different without him, and so will Water Valley.
Thank you, Binnie, for a life well lived, for your kindness, and for showing us what it truly means to serve a community. You will be missed.
