Doris Chatman used to catch the bus to her job as an airlines food preparer at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
H.A. Turnipseed operated a “rolling store” — a van that sold groceries in southwest Atlanta to residents of Carver Homes, High Point Apartments and the Joyland community. He’d routinely see the divorced mother of three children at a bus stop in Carver Homes.
“One day he put a bag of groceries on her front stoop,” said Mrs. Turnipseed’s daughter, Daphne C. Mathews of Atlanta.
Eventually, the couple married. Mrs. Turnipseed became a partner in life and business. She joined her husband on his routes in the van. In the late 1960s, the rolling store became a stand-alone — Turnipseed Supermarket off Pryor Road.
“She was just right there by his side, being an owner just like he was,” said Mrs. Mathews, who worked on the van as a child. “It was great. I learned about the value of money, how to write checks and how to keep books. I learned that from both of them.”
Doris Chatman Turnipseed, 84, of Atlanta died Thursday of leukemia at her home.
The funeral is 1 p.m. today at Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church in Atlanta. Donald Trimble Mortuary Inc. is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Turnipseed was born in College Park, but her mother died when she was an infant. She was raised in Atlanta by her grandmother and uncle.
She attended Washington High School, but never graduated. She worked at the Dobbs House Inc., an airport concessionaire that prepared food for airlines, until she married Mr. Turnipseed in the mid-1960s. He died in the mid-1980s.
The couple operated the mobile store until the late 1970s when they opened a grocery store, which operated for nearly 10 years, before it succumbed to the big-box stores. When it was open, the Turnipseeds would cash payroll checks at no charge. They allowed regular patrons to run a tab.
“They were pillars of the community,” her daughter said. “Go over [to southwest Atlanta] now and there are people over there who knew both of them. My mother was an extraordinary woman who took care of three kids, worked and became a leader.”
For Mrs. Turnipseed, social life revolved around her faith.
She was a deaconess at Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church. She took part in local missionary work. One year, she traveled with a church group to Jerusalem, where she was baptized in the Jordan River.
When it came time for church service, Mrs. Turnipseed’s ensemble wasn’t complete without an elaborate hat. She owned up to 60 that relatives plan to keep in the family, save for a few.
“We might give special friends one or two,” her daughter said.
Additional survivors include two sons, Stanley C. Chatman and Julian B. Chatman Jr., both of At-lanta: six grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
The Latest
Featured
