Frank Turner, who in 1995 became the first African American to represent Howard County in the General Assembly and served for more than two decades in the legislature, died early Friday morning. He was 77.

Elected in 1994, Turner, a Democrat, represented District 13 until his retirement in 2019. The district includes Savage, North Laurel and portions of Columbia. He was named to the Howard Community College Board of Trustees in 2019, serving on it until his passing.

Del. Vanessa Atterbeary, who represents Turner’s old district, announced her family friend’s death on the House floor Friday morning.

“I would like to inform the body that a member who walked these halls from 1995 to 2019 — who I affectionately dubbed my uncle even though he was not my biological uncle, I had known him since elementary school, a very dear family friend, the former vice chair of Ways and Schemes, as he used to like to say — former Delegate Frank Turner passed away after some health challenges at 2:15 this morning,” Atterbeary said.

The House of Delegates adjourned with a moment of silence for Turner.

“We lost a giant today,” Howard County Executive Calvin Ball told a group of lawmakers at an event in Annapolis.

“He was a mentor to me, a mentor to many of you. He’s done so much for the great state of Maryland and for Howard County,” Ball said. “So please keep him and his family in your prayers.”

A native of Mt. Pleasant, New York, Turner graduated from North Carolina College in Durham, North Carolina, in 1968, and received his law degree from North Carolina Central University in 1973.

Turner taught at Morgan State University’s School of Business and Management from 1974 to 2015, including five years as chair of the Department of Business Administration. He retired as a professor emeritus.

When then-Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski ran for the U.S. Senate in 1986, Turner served as a deputy campaign manager. When she became a senator, he worked for her as a special assistant from 1987 to 1993, before running for office himself the next year.

As a state delegate, Turner served as vice chair of the Ways and Means Committee, as House chair of the Joint Committee on Gaming Oversight and twice as House chair of the Howard County delegation.

State Sen. Clarence Lam remembers meeting Turner when Lam was involved in the Young Democrats of Howard County.

To Lam, Turner always seemed like a down-to-earth person who took his job in the legislature seriously “but was happy to be self-deprecating,” he said with a laugh.

“He was always willing to do whatever was needed to help support the community and help people who are trying to do good,” Lam added.

Turner was instrumental in reopening the Harriet Tubman School, an all-Black high school in Columbia that closed in 1965, as a cultural and education center in 2023, Lam said.

Turner first started working on the project in 2014, and told the Baltimore Sun in 2018: “... I don’t understand why it takes so much time. I want to get it done before so many of the students are no longer alive.”

Turner also helped secure funding for many county community facilities and parks, from the Tubman School project to the North Laurel Community Center and Blandair Park, Ball said in a statement.

In 2014, the county named turf fields at Blandair Park after Turner as a thank you for his work in helping the county secure funds and land for the project.

“It’s not really about me,” Turner said at the dedication ceremony. “It’s really about the 6,000 kids who live on the east side of Columbia and the east side of Howard County … [they will] have something that’s first-class.”

When he retired from the legislature, Turner thanked the residents of District 13 for allowing him to serve for more than two decades.

“It has truly been an exciting and rewarding experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life,” Turner said in his retirement announcement. “I hope that I have made a difference in the lives of many throughout Howard County.”

Turner told The Baltimore Sun in 2018 that he was particularly proud of his work helping those who might feel left out, from a bill to provide specialized education for the blind or visually impaired children to a measure that made it easier for adoptees to connect with their families.

“I feel a lot of satisfaction about what I’ve accomplished, but I also feel that for me there’s another mountain out there that I need to climb, and I feel as though for the most part that I’ve climbed this mountain,” he told The Sun.

In his retirement announcement, Turner wrote he would stay active and engaged with the county’s disability, business and education communities. Nearly a year and a half later, Turner was appointed to Howard Community College’s board.

When he was appointed to HCC’s board, he told The Sun, “I spent 40 years in higher education so I thought it was a pretty natural fit for me.”

He said he was looking forward to continuing serving the county because he didn’t “always have to be in public office to serve.”

Gov. Wes Moore had reappointed Turner for a second-term on the HCC board last year.

Turner’s passing leaves the seven-member HCC board with only three members. Howard County’s senators have nominated three replacements to Moore.

Before joining the board, Turner was a recipient of the Howard Community College Legacy of Service award in 2018. He was also a “major donor” to the college’s educational foundation, according to HCC.

President Daria Willis said in a statement that “in a long list of iconic community leaders … few outpace the impact” that Turner had on the college.

“His love for and his faith in this institution were apparent in his work, his conversation, his giving, and in his advocacy,” she said.

According to HCC, Turner leaves behind a wife, Kim, and five children.

Baltimore Banner reporters Pamela Wood and Madeleine O’Neill contributed to this story.