Bryan Lee Turner was born in Grants Pass, Oregon, on August 3, 1926, to George and Emily (Banta) Turner. He grew up mostly in Orland, CA. He became a Christian at the age of eleven, against his father’s wishes.
Lee graduated from San Jose Bible College in 1947. While there, he met and married Geraldine Cosmey in 1945. While at San Jose, Lee became fascinated by the Islamic religion that considered Jesus a prophet.
After graduation, Lee planted the Minnehaha church in Vancouver, where four of his five children were born. During this time, he read an article in Reader’s Digest about the Muslim country of Pakistan that intrigued him. In 1956 he moved his family to Philadelphia to begin graduate studies in South Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, with a view toward going to Pakistan as a missionary.
In 1960, the Turner family arrived in Pakistan, where Lee almost died of typhoid, but went on to learn the Urdu language and begin teaching about Jesus. He baptized many into Christ and established churches which still exist today.
Illiteracy among many of those he taught inspired him to record lessons that could be listened to on tape players. Later, these recordings morphed into radio broadcasts that were aimed toward Urdu speakers in Pakistan and India. When he returned to the United States in 1976, the radio work continued through Key Communications, first in Seattle, and then in Portland. It continues to this day under the direction of his son, Jonathan. Lee continued to study and write for Key Communications (with the help of secretaries) up until the day before he died, in spite of being confined to bed and in great pain for a number of years.
Lee died in the wee hours of February 24, 2023, and went home to be with Jesus whom he had served since he was a boy.

Lee’s memorial service will be held at 1:00pm Pacific Daylight Time on April 22, 2023 at the Crossroads Church, located at 2050 NE 102nd Ave., Portland, OR 97220.