A career serving Miami Beach leads to a tax-savvy gift
Although she was a member of the historic first coed graduating class at Ransom Everglades, Debbie Turner ’76 credits much of her five years on the Everglades Campus with shaping her future. Her best memories are of days in the Dell. She has a particular fondness for a course called Nature Study, which sent Everglades students and faculty canoeing and camping in the Everglades and along the Peace River.
Debbie went on from RE to graduate from the University of Miami in three years, becoming the second youngest member of her UM law class. Her career included exploring labor law from the perspectives of both union and management practices, followed by a stint practicing appellate law in the Office of the Attorney General in Florida, where she argued cases before the Third District Court of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. A chance acquaintance provided the opportunity to return to civil practice in the City of Miami Beach, which turned into a 30-year career. During that time, Debbie has seen Miami Beach reinvented, South Beach redeveloped as a tourist destination and, while working on various matters concerning land use and zoning, the challenges of sea level rise.
After retiring in 2019, Debbie had planned to travel throughout North America and Europe – a goal that has been slightly delayed because of the pandemic. In the meantime, Debbie has been tax-savvy and included Ransom Everglades in her estate plans, naming the school as one of the beneficiaries of her retirement accounts. Her commitment counts towards her reunion class giving totals and the REinventing Excellence campaign, and is recognized through the Swenson Society, which honors those who have provided for RE through their wills and estates.
Middle School
2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 250 6850
Upper School
3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 460 8800
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.