the community newspaper for east oahu since 1987
photo by Michele Van Hessen

Noble Turner: Entrepreneurial Spirit from an Early Age

The thirst for knowledge and the desire to succeed drove this successful businessman

by MICHELE VAN HESSEN
Sun Correspondent
Archived March 2008 article

Born into stark poverty on Wickwire Creek, in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia - once a booming coal mining culture - Noble Turner's life journey is of "storybook" proportions. "My Pap ran the mules through the mine tunnels, and at the age of sixteen he became partially blinded during a dynamite explosion," explained Noble. "After I was born, we lived on Pap's disability check of twenty-six dollars a month. My dad went totally blind at the time of my birth, hence his giving me the name, Noble: a projection of his great need for courage, as he had lost all sight. We had no running water, no electricity, coal and wood burning stoves, an outdoor toilet, and baby chicks in the living room in the early spring." Turner's summers were filled with working in gardens, caring for farm animals, hunting squirrels and groundhogs for food, and swimming in the "Molly Hole" on Wickwire Creek. "By the age of eleven, I had become an entrepreneur, cornering the market on 'night-crawlers' and selling them to the local fisherman at a better price: 15 cents a dozen, 10 cents less than my competitors." Other business ventures as a young teenager included selling 50-cent burlap bags of chicken manure to neighbors, and selling various crops by the road.

As a young man, Noble had been blessed with a talent for music, a thirst for knowledge, and a desire to succeed in life. Eventually, he moved to Florida, where he was a vocal music teacher. When he was being drafted into the Army for the VietNam war, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Later, he moved to Boston, taught at Danvers High School and enrolled in Lesley University where he received a Masters Degree in Psychology.

Noble attended Heed University where he received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Turner established the most successful private Psychiatric Clinic in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. After fifteen years, he decided to retire and settle in Hawaii.

After only six weeks of experiencing the beaches of Oahu, Turner became restless and began looking for projects. During the "Japanese Bubble" of 1989 and 1990, he designed, built, and sold the highest priced home ever sold off-water on Hanapepe Place in Koko Kai. He invested in, and created, "The Nurseries of Nobility." He invented and holds the U.S. patent for the water trampoline, bought four Carlson Travel Network businesses, and became a prolific private lender.

Noble realized that money, fame, and possessions were not the road to happiness. He decided to attend a seminary, The International College and Graduate School at the Baptist Church on the Pali, where he obtained a second Masters degree in Religion. He became an ordained minister and served by singing for the elderly, for the criminally insane at the State Hospital in Kaneohe, and also ministering to the homeless at the River of Life Mission in Chinatown. He also volunteered at Hospice Hawaii.

In the Hawaii Kai area, where Turner has spent most of his 20 years, he spearheaded a Neighborhood Watch program for Portlock/Koko Kai, and created a Security Watch Patrol program that reduced the burglaries from six or seven a month, to zero. He served as the Architectural Standards Committee Chairman for Koko Kai and the Maunalua Triangle neighborhoods. He is president of the newly-formed Hawaii Kai Chamber of Commerce. The group is involved with others in creating the first "Independence Day at Maunalua Bay" fireworks display.

His Noble Turner Realty International office is one of the most successful companies of its kind. "The Hawaii real estate market is one of the most sought-after markets in America and will continue to see acquisitions from the retiring baby boomers," explained Turner. You can reach him at e-mail: nobleturner@gmail.com or call 808-223-2001.