John R. Turbyfill
John Turbyfill has always possessed a certain maturity about himself that, when combined with his alertness and keen intelligence, left little doubt a successful career lay ahead.
He graduate from Andrew Lewis High School in 1949 where he was an excellent student and participated in a number of scholastic activities including: the Latin Club, Annual Staff, Boy’s State, Beta Club, Key Club and N.F.L. He also won in Western District Debating and Western District Boy’s Prose Reading.
John next entered Roanoke College and was salutatorian when he received a B.A. degree in 1953. While at Roanoke he also worked as a reporter for the Roanoke Times. Next came law school at the University of Virginia where he served as an editor of the Virginia Law Review, was a member of the Raven Society and received his LLB degree in 1956.
John first worked as an attorney for the firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, in New York. In 1960 he joined the law department of the Norfolk and Western Railway Company as assistant general attorney and progressed rapidly to general attorney in 1966 and general solicitor in 1968. A major change came in 1970 when he was named senior vice president of the Erie Lackawanna and the Delaware and Hudson railroads and moved to Cleveland. However, in 1972 he returned to the N&W in Roanoke as vice president-administration and, in 1975, was named vice president-finance. The next promotion came in 1980 to executive vice president-finance.
During John’s tenure with N&W, the company was in the midst of change from a 2,800-mile, mostly coal-hauling, railroad to being a major transportation company with 8,000 miles of track and a diversity of traffic. John was a key player as part of the N&W team that made this possible through a series of mergers and acquisition. Heading finance, he saw the company’s balance sheet grow into a healthy cash reserve. This, in turn, set the stage for a consolidation with the Southern Railway in 1982, creating Norfolk Southern Corporation with over 18,000 miles of track serving a 21-state area. John became executive vice president-finance with NS and held that position until named vice chairman of the board in 1993. In May of 1996 he retired amid much acclaim with many fond farewells and now resides in Virginia Beach with his wife, Kate Bellflower Turbyfill.
Over the years, John has been quite active in community affairs that include being past president, Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce; past president, Roanoke Transportation Museum and; chairman of the Roanoke Centennial Committee in 1982. With NS in Norfolk he served as president of the Virginia Stage Company board of trustees; board member, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital; president and board member, Greater Norfolk Corporation and; chairman, United Way Capital Campaign. Currently, he serves as chairman of the Roanoke College board of visitors.
John has received numerous honors for his accomplishments including the prestigious Roanoke Medal presented by Roanoke College in 1983. In further recognition of his outstanding career achievements, John R. Turbyfill was among charter members inducted into the Salem Alumni Hall of Fame established by the Salem Educational Foundation and Alumni Association in 1996.
