Jeffrey Bodmer-Turner, 76, of Manchester-by-the-Sea, passed away on May 18, 2026 in Beverly. He had been growing stronger after a year of cancer and kidney treatments, so his sudden passing was unexpected but peaceful, coming after a full and happy weekend celebrating 51 years of marriage with his wife Sandy and being at an event at First Parish.
Son of the late Harold and Helen (King) Bodmer, husband of Sandy Bodmer-Turner, and father to Simone Bodmer-Turner, Jeff was born in Arlington, Massachusetts in 1949, and graduated from Arlington public schools and UMass Amherst. He went on to a Master’s degree at American University and a doctorate at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. He lived with Sandy for many years in Cambridge, MA and Berkeley, CA, to be joined in Berkeley by Simone in 1990, settling in Manchester-by-the-Sea in 1999, to be close by our families in the Boston area and Connecticut.
After a career in forensic psychology in Northern California, he switched careers when the family moved east to better serve his life-long interest in helping children. After volunteering in the Memorial School Library and TAing in the Manchester Computer Lab, he became the head of the computer program at Essex Elementary where he taught for 17 years, eventually also serving as the President of the Manchester-Essex Teachers Association. He loved his students and the faculty he worked alongside, and taught countless students keyboarding, robotics, and how to plan small businesses.
He and Sandy enjoyed cooking together, sitting down Sunday afternoons to plan their menus with their favorite cookbooks. He was known for his yeasted waffles, pancakes, beet pesto pizza, and garlic-sherry, Spanish shrimp. He loved the outdoors and took many trips with Sandy and good friends traveling the world – from Florida, Wyoming, Texas, and Maine to Costa Rica and Colombia – to witness bird migrations and unusual species and to go fly fishing. He was an avid outdoorsman and a conservationist and integrated these passions into the work he did for Manchester’s Conservation Commission.
He also proudly served on Manchester’s Select Board, with one year as its chair. It was a time when the Board was overseeing the Town’s Covid protocols, its response to the Shingle Hill 40B project, the regionalization of 911 calls and the beginning of negotiations for a new Senior Center. Unafraid of controversy, he always worked hard to discover the best possible solution for the Town’s residents.
What he loved best was being Simone’s dad – whether carrying her at one year old in his backpack cross-country skiing, coaching her elementary softball and basketball teams or visiting Simone in New York City as her career in the arts unfolded. Family trips were often to far-flung places – camping across the U.S., visiting London, Paris, Spain, Florence and Japan. Jeff shared Simone’s excitement and joy in just being alive and adventuring, always experimenting, trying something new.
Jeff loved jazz, the blues, rock and roll, and all forms of orchestral music, always teaching Sandy and Simone something new about music history or the members of old bands. Visits to Simone in New York City would often include live music at a jazz club. Handel & Hyden concerts in Boston and the wonderful Manchester Summer Chamber Music concerts, including hosting their visiting musicians, were woven into Jeff’s life each year.
He was mischievous and had a wry sense of humor that always got a laugh out of Simone and a cocked eyebrow from Sandy. He was a profoundly spiritual man, interested in the intersection of Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism. He was a long-time member and Deacon of First Parish Church Congregational in Manchester as well as a dedicated meditator and member of the Insight Meditation Center in West Newbury during its time there. He believed deeply in the power of community, decency, and compassion. A beloved father, husband, friend, colleague and teacher, he will be sorely missed by many.
He is survived by his wife Sandy Bodmer-Turner, his daughter Simone Bodmer-Turner, his sister Carolyn McCluskey and her husband Paul, his nieces Keri Kyle and her husband, Bob, and Kelle McCluskey, nephews Andrew and Marc McCluskey and Marc’s family, great nephew Christian Kyle and brother-in-law, John Turner.
His memorial service will be celebrated at First Parish Church Congregational, 10 Central St., Manchester-by-the-Sea at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, June 19th. Burial will be private and held later. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Jeff’s memory to Massachusetts Audubon Society, the Southern Poverty Law Center, or the Deacon’s Fund of First Parish Church that helps those in need in Manchester.
Arrangements by Campbell Funeral Home, 525 Cabot St., Beverly, MA. Information, directions, condolences at www.campbellfuneral.com.
