Our Team

Ryan Turner – Renaissance Man

What might you call a remarkable guy whose favorite musician is Ozzy Osborne, whose nickname is ‘Thanos’, and who knows the entire series of Game of Thrones inside out, but who is also a sensitive, accomplished artist, a kind and committed volunteer within his community, and whose smile and laughter light up a room? If that guy is Ryan Turner, aka ‘Little King’, as his name means in Gaelic, you might call him a ‘renaissance man’. If you are lucky enough to know him, you will understand exactly why that term applies; if you’ve only just met him, you soon get the picture. The truth is, the more you learn about him, the easier it is to agree that, put simply, Ryan is an amazing, wonderful person anyone would also be glad to call ‘friend’.

In addition to having worked steadily for eighteen years at Rona Home Improvement Store in Carleton Place, where he works twice a week doing three or four hour shifts each day, Ryan is also an exceptionally valuable employee with Just Good Compost, where he has earned the moniker of Ryan-Turner-Top-Earner as a result of his excellent work with the bucket brigade team. He and his many good friends on the crew, Geoffrey, Trevor, Matthew and Ailish each give their best to the company, but Ryan shrugs off the notion that he is an excellent crew-member, and a much valued employee by the leadership team at JGC; the way he tells it, Ryan just gets along with all his bosses, wherever he works – though he will admit he’s especially fond of Kelly at JGC and Erin and Leslie at Rona.

Ryan also volunteers his time at several agencies in town, and is particularly proud of his placement at Parrot Partners Canada. His face lights up as he talks about one Hyacinth Blue Macaw parrot of whom he is especially fond, Go-go, and the difference between Go-go and ‘McGoo’, one of the multi-coloured variety. On the day we meet, he wears a brilliantly-coloured shirt depicting one such a parrot, and as he describes the birds’ extraordinary size and wingspan and explains how he and the birds are able to connect through hand/claw gestures when he enters their cage, he is genuinely excited to share his interest. Ryan brings the same energy and enthusiasm to a number of important causes: recently he’s been volunteering with Carleton Place’s food bank, The Hunger Stop, and looks forward to assisting with the installation of a raised bed vegetable garden at LCSS while learning more about growing food to help the food bank. Apparently, there is no end to what this truly kind – and helpful – guy can do.

In his spare time, Ryan enjoys playing video games, watching movies and listening to music – mostly metal. But Ryan is also an accomplished artist who enjoys drawing and sketching in charcoal pencil, as well as wood carving, a hobby he enjoys working at in his backyard shed at home. When we met, he showed off some of his work including a portrait of and silver wooden hammer created for ‘Mighty Thor’, his nickname for his case worker, Natalie, whom he calls one of his best friends. Many of his drawings are for his nieces, Maggie and Rosie, of whom he is deeply fond and very proud.

This upcoming long May weekend, Ryan and his entire extended family will gather at a cottage resort to enjoy a holiday together for a few days of rest and relaxation. No doubt there will be memories shared about his sister Kaitlyn’s wedding to her husband Pat, stories told about their parents’ days of taking part in Toronto’s annual Santa Clause Parade. Some of the tales will likely come from Ryan himself as he entertains the family with recollections about his many experiences with the parrots he loves, his good friends at work, and the joy he experiences as an artist in his workshop. And you can be sure that during the telling, his wonderful smile and ready laughter will add to his family’s enjoyment of his stories. Uncle Ryan is possibly his favorite name, after all.