Kay Turnbaugh, age 84, passed away on January 26, 2026 in Bella Vista, Arkansas.

Kay Turnbaugh was born in Shreveport, LA in 1941. She was the child of Bernice Morton Zinnecker and Charles Zinnecker.

Kay grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She attended public schools and then graduated from the University of Tulsa with a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in English/Education; she completed course work for another Master’s in Reading.

She was a high school English teacher, a Reading specialist, and then the director of the computer lab at Tulsa Vocational Technical School.

She and her husband moved to Bella Vista in 1990. She belonged to several clubs, and she taught line dancing in Bella Vista and Bentonville. She was a volunteer at Concordia Senior and Assisted Living in Bella Vista for many years.

She is survived by her husband, Tom Turnbaugh; son, Steve and his wife, Anita (Bentonville); and stepdaughter, Kristie (Eureka Springs). She has two grandchildren: Brendan and Emily (Bentonville), and three step-grandchildren: Tehra and Seth Thorp (New York) and Leah Thorp (Oregon).

She has donated her body to medical research. No funeral is planned. Friends may donate to the Bella Vista Animal Shelter or the Bella Vista Library.

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