HOUSTON — The unexpected passing of Houston Congressman Sylvester Turner sent shockwaves from Texas to Washington, D.C. Turner died early Wednesday at the age of 70.
The native Houstonian’s family said he was taken to the hospital after becoming ill Tuesday night.
“While attending the State of The Union Address in Washington, D.C. last evening, Congressman Turner was taken to the hospital and was later released,” they said in a statement. “On Wednesday morning, March 5th, at approximately 5:45 a.m., he died at his home from enduring health complications.”
The news stunned many friends and colleagues who had seen or spoken with Turner hours before his death.
Longtime KHOU 11 anchor Len Cannon expressed shock and disbelief over the sudden, recounting their final text exchange.
“I texted Sylvester Turner last night at 8:27 p.m., knowing he was at the president’s address to Congress,” Cannon said during KHOU 11’s coverage Wednesday morning. “He quickly responded within 10 minutes — he was there, working, engaged. It’s shocking to think that just hours later, he was gone.”
During his second term as Houston mayor, Turner battled osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer. He endured surgery, six weeks of radiation and reconstruction.
In a 2022 interview with Cannon, Turner said his dentist noticed a lump in his jaw while treating a nagging toothache.
“’Mayor, I’m going to send you for a biopsy,’” Turner said the dentist told him. “I said, ‘biopsy for what? I got a toothache.’”
One week after his diagnosis, he had a nine-hour surgery at M.D. Anderson, where doctors took bone from his jaw and replaced it with bone from his leg. He spent eight days in the hospital, followed by radiation five days a week for six weeks.
“The radiation was challenging because I’m claustrophobic,” Turner said.
He asked the technicians to play music to help distract him from the discomfort of a tight radiation mask.
“You got any gospel around here?” Turner would ask them. “‘Turn it up. Turn it up loud enough for me to hear it.”
He lost 17 pounds during treatment but somehow managed to keep the cancer a secret while continuing his work as mayor. Only his family, chief of staff and security detail knew the truth.
He said his faith was unwavering even on the toughest days.
“It strengthened my faith because who wants to serve a God when in the most vulnerable state you can’t call on him … and he comes through,” Turner said.
In recent years, Turner showed no public signs of slowing down.
He was elected to Congress in November to fill the seat of the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who died after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
“He had lost weight — he never regained it — but every time I asked him about his health, even last summer, he told me, ‘My doctors give me the green light, I’m fine, I have the energy to run,’” Cannon recalled.
Bishop James Dixon, a longtime Turner friend, saw him at a recent gala.
“If you knew him, you knew he wasn’t at his best, (but) he kept being the people’s champion,” Dixon told KHOU 11.
Turner attended other major events, including the RodeoHouston Parade on Saturday.
“He prided himself on being present,” Cannon said. “We may never know how he was really feeling because he always put up a brave front.”
