REDMOND Larry Turner couldn’t be happier than he is as athletics director and assistant vice principal at Redmond High School.

”I absolutely love what I do,” says Turner. ”I couldn’t have a better situation and there couldn’t be a better place to work than at Redmond.”

So why, at the relatively young age of 52, is Turner giving up something he so clearly enjoys?

”I wanted to retire at a time when I still had a passion to go to work every day,” he explains. ”I’ve been a (Class) 4A A.D. for 19 years. If you can go out on a good note after 19 years, that’s something.

”The athletics director role is one that can wear on you if you let it. But this job hasn’t driven me out of here. After 31 years, it was just time to resign.”

Turner, Redmond’s A.D. for the past nine years, will step away from the job he loves at the end of the current school year. He submitted his resignation in November.

Redmond High School principal Dan Purple said the process of finding a replacement under way. He hopes to name a successor to Turner before spring vacation.

Turner’s entire 31-year career in education has centered around high school athletics. From the time he was hired for his first coaching position at Philomath High in 1970, prep sports, kids and Turner have gone together like peanut butter and jelly.

”He’s a real relationship person,” says Mike Flanagan, who coaches wrestling and boys golf at Redmond High. ”He’s into creating friends and helping you out. He wants coaches to be successful, programs to be successful and kids to be successful.

”He cares about people … he really does.”

A look at Turner’s resume reveals a career filled with highlights:

In 1972, at age 23, he led Philomath to a boys state track and field championship.

The Warriors later won their first-ever league football title with Turner as head coach. He earned state coach of the year honors during his tenure at Philomath.

He spent 10 years, mostly during the 1980s, as A.D. at Corvallis High. The Spartans won state titles in baseball, boys basketball, volleyball, football and girls track and field during that time.

He has served as Redmond High A.D. during a period that has produced some of the school’s top athletic accomplishments, including recent state semifinal appearances in softball, baseball and boys basketball.

”He has a determination to make things better for an athletic program,” says Purple, who has worked with Turner all nine years at Redmond High. ”There has been a lot done to improve our athletic facilities and program delivery.

”We have a good program, a quality program, and not just in terms of wins and losses, but in values that have been instilled in our coaches by Larry.”

Turner said the most negative impact on prep athletics and activities during his career has resulted from Measure 5 and the ensuing pay-to-play policies that now are common.

Measure 5, a tax limitation initiative passed by Oregon voters in the early 1990s, that helped persuade Turner to move to Redmond when the Corvallis School District wanted him to split time as A.D. at its two high schools as part of a budget-cutting process.

”I’d love to go back in time and establish a rule where you wouldn’t have pay to play for athletics and activities,” says Turner. ”It’s not that it has limited opportunities for kids, but we would be following our own words that we believe that athletics and activities are part of an overall education.”

Like most in his position, Turner has had to deal with angry parents, upset coaches, and student discipline issues. He said those parts of the job aren’t what he will remember most.

”Just to see the light come on in kids, whether as a coach or a teacher, is rewarding,” he says. ”I’ve always had a compassion for kids who might not be the most gifted one, but who worked hard and were rewarded for that hard work.”

At every stop, Turner earned a reputation for helping improve athletic facilities. Redmond High has been no exception. Among recent projects completed are improvements inside the gym, a second level built on the football stadium press box, and a covered eating area adjacent to the stadium concession stand.

Now it’s time to develop new interests. Turner says he is keeping open all of his options, which could include a return to coaching, officiating, or a part-time position in the education field.

”I just hope I’ve given as much as I’ve received in my 31 years,” adds Turner. ”It’s been a great experience to be in the education field.”