When John “Jack” Turley arrived in Chicago more than 50 years ago, he had a new bride, $1.40 in his pocket and a dream of designing buildings.
By the time he retired from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, he had helped design some of Chicago’s most famous skyscrapers, including the John Hancock Center and the Sears Tower, said his son Jonathan.
Mr. Turley moved to Chicago in the 1950s to study under architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and spent his career designing buildings that reflected his mentor’s simple and classical style.
“It was a pretty bold move to travel across the country with no money to try to work for a famous architect,” said his son, who writes a column for USA Today. “But my father was taken by the designs. He was gifted both in design as well as drafting.”
Mr. Turley, 79, died of complications from Parkinson’s disease Saturday, Feb. 19, in St. Joseph Hospital, Chicago.
Mr. Turley, who was born in Rahway, N.J., enlisted in the Navy when he was 17 and served in World War II.
After he left the military, Mr. Turley worked as a photographer, but when he saw Mies’ designs, he decided he wanted to draw buildings.
He moved to Chicago, became one of Mies’ top students and earned a bachelor’s degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1955.
“Architecture was a perfect fit for him,” his son said. “My father was very proud of Chicago and believed that it represented the foremost in design. He was a big advocate of Chicago architecture and the arts.”
Working with Mies and eventually as a partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, he had a hand in the design of dozens of structures worldwide, his son said. He helped design the Wills Tobacco Factory in England and the First Wisconsin building in Madison, his son said.
Mr. Turley also was a woodworker who made bowls and furniture in a workshop in his basement. Later in his life, he developed Parkinson’s disease, a topic his son wrote about in his column.
Mr. Turley also participated in a service group to help impoverished Chicago residents get job training and find work, his son said. He happily offered his knowledge to younger architects who were trying to get established.
“He was one of those persons that you could ask anything and he would know the answer,” said Laura Jimenez, an architect who was mentored by Mr. Turley. Jimenez met Mr. Turley through an exchange program that brought her from Argentina to the United States.
“He knew Chicago better than anybody,” she said. “He knew all the details in the buildings, and he just taught me all about the city.”
In addition to his son, Mr. Turley is survived by his wife, Angela; two other sons, Dominic and Christopher; daughters Angela and Jennifer; a stepbrother, Bill Abbott; and 12 grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in Drake and Son Funeral Home, 5303 N. Western Ave., Chicago. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Wednesday in St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church, 4200 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago.
