The Cascilla community is mourning the loss of one of their own, leaving the small Tallahatchie County village remembering her leading up to one of their biggest weekends of the year.
Brenda Turner died from her injuries after being involved in a one car accident in North Grenada County last week.
The Grenada County Sheriff’s Office and the Geeslin Corner Volunteer Fire Department responded to the single car accident on Pearidge Road last Tuesday morning.
Sheriff Rolando Fair identified Turner, 62, of Cascilla as the victim who died after being involved in the accident on the stretch of road near Jones Chapel M.B. Church.
“We still have the accident under investigation to try and determine what caused it,” Fair said.
Deputies and fire fighters responded to the call shortly after 9 a.m. The entrance to Pearidge Road was briefly closed after medical personnel with MedStat Ambulance Service requested a medical helicopter. Shortly after, the helicopter made a landing at Geeslin Corner and transported Turner to another hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.
Turner had worked for a number of years as a bookkeeper at Sunflower Grocery Stores and most recently owned and operated Rock’s Kudzu Grill at Cascilla. She was instrumental in founding “Cascilla Day” and “Christmas in the Kudzu” and was always looking for a way to make the community she called home a better place.
Members of the Cascilla Community said she knew how to get the ball rolling with the events.
“Brenda was a force out here,” longtime friend Marilyn Grantham said. “She was always getting involved in Cascilla.”
Grantham said it was Turner who took the Old Whitten Store, which had been vacant for years and helped transform it into a library.
“She asked people to bring books and they did,” Grantham said. “From there she made a snack bar and named it the Kudzu Grill, that was just her.”
According to Grantham, Cascilla Day was set for Nov. 6 and everyone was preparing for the event on Saturday.
“The whole idea was draw people back home,” Grantham concluded. “And that was the way Brenda was. She will surely be missed.”
