Patricia Jill Crowell, Ph.D

Our dear Jill passed away quietly on May 13^th following a 9-year battle with ALZ.  Jill was born on June 10,1946 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada…daughter of William (Bill) Turnbull and Noreen Turnbull (nee: Kerr).  Her father served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and Jill’s childhood was spent on bases in Ontario, Manitoba and Cold Lake, Alberta.  Following high school graduation she attended Mount Royal College in Calgary before transferring to Bemidji State College in Bemidji, Minnesota where she thought the winters would be milder (record low of -50F)!  After one year there she attended the University of Hawaii to thaw out.  While in Hawaii she met Gary Crowell, whom she subsequently married.  They returned to the mainland and settled in Tacoma, WA where Jill continued her studies and was active in local theater productions.  Soon thereafter, Jill began her career in the health care industry while pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Washington.  Her marriage ended during this time and Jill subsequently settled in Seattle for several years while working at the Pacific Medical Center.  While with PMC she lived for several months in China as a visiting scholar teaching management information systems. Her career then took her to Pasadena for several years before she moved to Chicago where she worked for Northwestern Health and eventually Michael Reese Hospital before retiring at 65.  At about this time Jill was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s and her life suddenly took a new direction.  A year after receiving this diagnosis Jill relocated to Salt Lake City to live closer to family.  She lived independently for the next 6 years developing new relationships and enjoying visits from friends and family.  While she yearned for her beloved cities of Seattle and Chicago, she fell in love with the red rock country of southern Utah and enjoyed her visits to that region. Shortly after moving to SLC Jill became actively engaged with the Utah Alzheimer’s Association, which was an invaluable resource to her on her ALZ journey.   She quickly became a strong advocate for those afflicted with early onset Alzheimer’s and gave frequent presentations on the topic at both State and national conferences. Jill’s infectious smile and easy laugh drew people to her and she continued to make new friends throughout her life.  

Jill is survived by her brothers, Jim Turnbull of Park City and Frank Turnbull (Peachey) of Spokane, her nieces, Erika, Livia(Mark) and Blaire, and her nephews, Colin (Kasey), Owen (Alison) and Carter…and a growing collection of ‘grand’ nieces and nephews.  Jill was pre-deceased 17 years prior by her beloved sister Joy, whose former husband (Gilles Laverdure) and his extensive family remain important friends of the Turnbulls to this day.  Jill’s life was blessed with the decade’s long friendship of Terri, Anne, Hazel and Rick, and more recently Wendy and George.  Over the past two years the staff of The Ridge-Foothill have supported Jill with love, patience and compassion for which her family will forever be grateful.  In lieu of flowers, donations to the Utah Alzheimer’s Association would be sincerely appreciated.

A celebration of life will be on Friday, July 10, 2020 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 South 900 East, Salt Lake City.