How Did Gerry Turner’s Wife Die? She Passed Before Moving Into Their ‘Dream Home’
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Love after love after love. Gerry Turner’s wife would be proud of him. The new Golden Bachelor is set to propose to his new love during the season finale of the show.
The Golden Bachelor premiered on September 28, 2023. Gerry Turner, a 71-year-old restaurant owner from Indiana, was announced as the Season 1 Golden Bachelor on Good Morning America in July 2023. “It’s never too late to fall in love again,” he said. Gerry is a father, grandfather, and widower. He married his wife and high school sweetheart, Toni, in 1974. They share two daughters, Angie and Jenny, and two granddaughters, Charlee and Payton. Gerry and Toni were married for 43 years until her death from an illness in 2017, six weeks after her retirement. “She got robbed,” Gerry told Good Morning America about Toni. “Every day that goes by, that’s the thought I have.”
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“I’ve always tried to commit to myself to only try and say ‘I love you’ to one person for the rest of my life. I only wanted to be intimate with one person for the rest of my life. I failed at that,” he told Variety. “That’s what I alluded to about being in the moment and getting all excited about the concept of being in love. I so regretted it, because I felt like I wasn’t true to myself at that moment. This is what I expected of myself and I failed. When you say that to someone, it can become very destructive.”
So how did Gerry Turner’s wife die and does his family support his life as a Golden Bachelor? Read more to find out.
How did Gerry Turner’s wife Toni die?
How did Gerry Turner’s wife Toni die? In the “Men Tell All” special, Gerry revealed his plans with Toni and how she died from a bacterial infection.
“We had a plan and we had an idea of what our dream house was going to be. So when Toni retired the end of May in 2017, we bought that dream house, closed on it on June 6. From June 6th on, it didn’t go according to plan at all. She became ill and her situation got worse over a couple of weeks.”
Gerry continued, “And so we went to the emergency room and she had a bacterial infection that infected her kidneys and infected her liver. So I took my wife to the emergency room on July 7th. She passed away on July 15th.”
“This is her dream. This is what she deserves. Why am I standing here alone?” His children were very supportive of his move on The Golden Bachelor, “No one’s ever going to replace Toni, but the love of my daughters and my granddaughters pulled me out of a dark spot.”
Who is Gerry Turner’s ex-girlfriend?
Gerry Turner’s ex-girlfriend talked to The Hollywood Reporter about their dating life before The Golden Bachelor and after Toni’s death. Turner’s ex-girlfriend wished to remain anonymous but the publication called her Carolyn for continuity purposes.
According to the site, Carolyn was 14 years his junior and was a staff accountant at the mental health center in Indiana. They dated for 10 months right after his wife died and then lived together for one year and nine months. The two met at the mental health facility where she worked at, and the staff and patients were well acquainted with Gerry and Toni.
“Then, we get the shocking news that Toni passed away, so most everyone at the office went to the visitation in July,” Carolyn told THR. “Then, in August, I got a phone call from Gerry,” she said. “I was so shocked to hear from him.”
“Damn, I go to bed at night thinking of you and wake up in the morning thinking of you,” he had texted Carolyn on Sept. 2, 2017, just months after his wife’s death.
Carolyn came forward because she didn’t want to be the “invisible woman,” whispered about in Davenport. Carolyn’s friend Susan McReery vouched for the romance.
“When Carolyn and Gerry first started dating [in September 2017], my husband and I took them to an Iowa [Hawkeyes] football game,” Susan said. “I thought, ‘This guy’s legit. This guy’s a really good guy for her.’”
She also reacted to when Gerry said the line about not having been kissed in six years. “And I’m like, what? He’s got to know that people are paying attention to this show. I’m just flabbergasted.”
Carolyn eventually moved in with Gerry and had hefty negotiations like a job change and moving to “the middle of nowhere” but things became tense at a particular moment. “I’m not taking you to the reunion looking like that,” he told her when heading to his high school reunion. The comment was pointed towards her body when she gained 10 pounds from stress she says.
The confrontation culminated in their breakup. Carolyn moved out of their shared lake house and subsequently injured her ankle during the move-out— when Gerry allegedly accused her of prolonging her stay and suggested that she was planning to sue him for causing the injury. When Carolyn finally moved out Gerry told her, “I really wish this would’ve worked out. Call me when you get to your hotel, so I know you made it safe.”
Carolyn wasn’t the only person Gerry dated after his wife died. Heather Lanning-Adams talked to The Sun and considered Gerry her friend. She told reporters, “He dated a couple of women. They weren’t all long-term, but they … weren’t short-term either. … He was with a couple of women for a decent amount of time, but it just didn’t work out.”
Who does Gerry Turner pick on The Golden Bachelor?
Who does Gerry Turner pick on The Golden Bachelor? Spoilers ahead! Reality Steve revealed that Gerry Turner is engaged to Theresa Nist. Gerry gave his final rose and proposed to Theresa at the Final Rose Ceremony after rejecting his runner-up, Leslie Fhima, a 64-year-old fitness instructor from Minneapolis, Minnesota. His third place finalist, Faith Martin, a 60-year-old high school teacher from Benton City, Washington, was eliminated after Hometown Dates.
“Gerry got engaged to Theresa. They are still engaged, and we’ll see what happens with their lives,” Reality Steve said on his Daily Roundup podcast. “You know, Theresa is from New Jersey. Gerry loves his life in Indiana. So we’ll find out on November 30, when they’re live on the couch, exactly what their plans are… what they’ve been up to these last couple months. But Gerry is engaged to Theresa.”
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The Golden Bachelor airs on Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC. Here’s how to watch it for free.
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To get more of an inside scoop, check out Los Angeles Times writer Amy Kaufman’s book, Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure, for a deep dive into the Bachelor franchise. The book uncovers the secrets of Bachelor Nation, from how much the Bachelor and the Bachelorette are paid to the rules contestants have to follow, that producers don’t want fans to know. It’s a must-read for any Bachelor Nation member.
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