Fairfax City Mayor Steve Stombres presents a proclamation to Armistice Turtora. Photo by Bonnie Hobbs.
Fairfax — Most people don’t receive special proclamations on their birthdays – but then, there’s only one Armistice Turtora. And after serving tirelessly for six decades to better her community, she celebrated her 90th birthday last Friday, Nov. 11.
So not only was she honored at the Nov. 8 meeting of the Fairfax City Council, but Mayor Steve Stombres presented her with a proclamation officially declaring her 90th birthday as Armistice Turtora Day in the City of Fairfax.
The United States previously observed Nov. 11 as Armistice Day, in commemoration of the signing of the armistice (agreement) ending World War I in 1918. So when Turtora was born in the U.S. on Nov. 11, 1926, her immigrant parents of Armenian heritage named her Armistice.
She moved to Fairfax in 1959 and, as a wife and mother, became active in her neighborhood as part of the newly created Country Club Hills Civic Assn. She was a block captain and her community’s newsletter editor and president.
Turtora also organized and served as the first president of the City of Fairfax Federation of Citizens Assns., organized the Bicycle Path Committee and designed costumes for the Fairfax Community Theatre. From 1959-84, she was a member of the City’s League of Women Voters and even served as its chairman. And she worked on voter-registration drives, as well as open-space and education studies.
Turtora also chaired the City of Fairfax Democratic Committee – which was groundbreaking because she was the only woman on the committee. In addition, she worked on many political campaigns and at the polls on Election Day. And for the past decade, she’s served on the Commission on the Arts.
In 1969, she became the first chairman of Fairfax’s Parks and Recreation Board, which she helped establish, and she tirelessly advocated for the purchase and development of parks throughout the City. When Van Dyck Park was built during the ’60s, she fought to keep its open field – known as “The Bowl” – as a place for unscheduled play and activities. And in June, “The Bowl” was officially renamed Armistice Turtora Field in her honor.
So it’s easy to see why the City she’s served for so long wanted to do something especially meaningful to commemorate her 90th birthday. After Stombres presented Turtora with the proclamation, she said, “I want to thank everybody and the Arts Commission and everyone here I know so well. And I wish you all long life, continued health and wisdom.”