Gregory “Greg” Kenneth Turnipseed taught his grandson many things: how to project confidence, how to help others in need, how to dress well (or “bougie”), how to lead but stay humble.
To Jarrett “JT” Turnipseed, his grandfather was the epitome of a successful Black man, someone who stood tall wherever he went and made things happen.
“He was the kind of man which I am striving to be — one aimed at serving others, serving beyond himself,” JT Turnipseed said at his grandfather’s memorial service Tuesday.
More than 200 people filled an auditorium at Morgan State University to pay their respects to Greg Turnipseed, the city transportation worker who was brutally beaten over a traffic dispute in October. The 71-year-old died Nov. 26 of injuries he suffered in the attack.
“You were not aware of the caliber of person whom you have harmed to this degree, but you helped magnify the Turnipseed name, and now we will magnify Greg’s legacy,” JT Turnipseed said, addressing his grandfather’s assailant.
Friends, family and public officials remembered Greg Turnipseed as a hard worker with a gentle soul. He worked at the Baltimore City Department of Transportation for 14 years as a traffic investigator, helping resolve issues related to roadway signage and markings.
“Greg was a dedicated employee that we all knew, and he came to work each day with such a positive attitude and a pleasant demeanor,” said Veronica McBeth, the city’s transportation director. “He was respectful, relatable and had a great work ethic, and was very knowledgeable about his position at the agency. He had a welcoming and approachable presence that was very comforting to his colleagues.”
McBeth presented Turnipseed’s family with an official DOT street sign reading “Gregory K. Turnipseed Way.” The governor, mayor and City Council members also produced resolutions in his memory, and the president of the City Union of Baltimore called for reform that would better protect public servants from violence.
Turnipseed was “a devoted member of the City Union of Baltimore whose courage, service and love defined his life and his work,” said Antoinette Ryan-Johnson, the union president. “We mourn the loss of a devoted member who answered the call of duty with integrity and selflessness.”
The 71-year-old was walking on St. Paul Street on Oct. 17 when he saw a motorist waiting for another car to leave a parking spot. Turnipseed later told police that when he approached the parked vehicle, a teenage girl in the front passenger seat grew angry and began punching him in the face. The girl’s mother, who was the driver, exited the car and jumped on his back, he said.
Turnipseed fell, and “the driver then kicked him in the head multiple times, breaking his glasses, and resulting in abrasions and swelling to his head/face area,” police wrote in charging documents against the woman, identified as 49-year-old Kiannah Bonaparte.
Turnipseed’s daughter told police that he suffered bleeding in his brain and underwent surgery at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center.
Bonaparte was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault weeks after the initial incident but before Turnipseed died. Police said additional charges may be filed.
There was little mention of the tragedy at Tuesday’s funeral service, but attendees lauded his sacrifice and dedication to Baltimore.
“If we take nothing else from the service that he rendered to our city, it is that we deserve to live in a Baltimore that is filled with love, that we deserve to elevate people like him, who lived and died serving others,” said Zeke Cohen, the City Council president. “We deserve a Baltimore where every single soul is treated with kindness and dignity.”
Other speakers shared stories of their lost father, friend, brother — the time he helped an elderly man while sitting in gridlocked traffic, all the times he carried groceries for neighbors, the way he chewed his ice cream and the love he had for seafood. They talked about him saving his eldest daughter in his phone contacts as “ICE daughter” — in case of emergency, or in case of everything — and his overwhelming love for his children and grandchildren.
They especially talked of his keen sense of fashion. He enjoyed frequenting thrift stores and shopping designer labels, and he was almost always the best-dressed person in the room.
“Fashion wasn’t about labels,” said his cousin, Danielle Turnipseed. “For him, it was about style, craftsmanship and doing things with intention. He believed looking good was a form of self respect.”
Turnipseed was born April 30, 1954, to John and Mary Turnipseed, and was named after his mother’s favorite actor, Gregory Peck. He was a Boy Scout and attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, then an all-boys school. He graduated from what was then Towson State College with a degree in science and engineering.
He was a hard worker all his life, family said. As a child, he was a busser at a local country club and worked at a neighborhood movie theater. During college, he worked night shifts at Sears and weekends at Towson’s Cooperative Education Program. He began a career in telecommunication management before joining the transportation department.
Turnipseed also loved watching football, home improvement projects and taking care of animals. He enjoyed advocating for his community and meeting his neighbors. He held a strong faith above all else.
As one attendee put it: “He was just a good guy.”
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