SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Dr. Dennis Turner, Jr.'s house stands out, but not as much as the people who live in it.
Upon entry is a wall of fame full of newspaper clippings, photos with famous politicians and other accomplishments.
Turner, a surgeon, was the first Black graduate of Emory's residency program. All four of his siblings have college and advanced degrees as well. However, their parents, Dennis Turner, Sr. and Doris Turner, never finished high school.
"We've had loving parents who are 99 years old, who have been married for 80 years, who provided a good home for us, stability," Turner said, adding his parents also encouraged, "dedication, and caring, and responsibility, and being the very best that you can be."
Dennis, Sr. joined the U.S. Army and served in World War II on the beaches of Normandy, France. He said he loaded supplies onto trucks and ships and guarded prisoners of war.
"I was able to come back and come home, but still come home to a segregated country," Dennis, Sr. said. "I was able to come back and come home, but still come home to a segregated country.”
Dennis, Sr. noted that segregation was not prominent overseas. When he came home to the U.S. he worked as a mechanic and worked for decades at Cummins, Inc., an engine manufacturing company.
“Thank God that He brought us to where we are today," Dennis, Sr. said. "I’m so proud that I can sit here today and see all five of my kids. All of them with their college degrees and most of them are doctors, lawyers and preachers and whatnot.”
Dennis, Sr. and Doris have five children, 14 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
They say it all started with a little teenage persistence.
"I met him when I was 14, and he kept coming around until eventually I fell in love with him, married him," Doris said about her husband. "We've been together for 80 years, and I don't regret not one bit."
Doris said in a way, Dennis, Sr. changed her life plans for the better.
"I wanted to be an RN, but after I met him and fell in love with him, we got married so young and I started having children," she said. "So I thought more of my children than I did the RN, so I gave up the RN and raised my children up, so I didn’t lose anything.”
Doris said the next generation must find a role model who can be a moral leader for them in their development. She said family, faith and an active life contributed to enjoying success and happiness later in life.
“I’m so happy to have him still around so we can enjoy each other. We really enjoy each other at 99," Doris said. “I teach the children and guide them and tell them what’s the right thing for them to do. I just taught them that they needed an education and I was going to see to them getting one.”
Dr. Turner and his siblings took the emphasis on education to heart.
Married almost 54 years, Turner went into the Army as a captain in the medical corp. He was also a founding member of 100 Black Men of Atlanta. All five of Turner's daughters went to Spelman College -- no other family has been able to surpass that record so far, according to the HBCU.
"Even though dad wasn't able to do those things, even though my mom wasn't able to become an RN, we were able to do some of the things they could not do," Turner said. “I remember my dad getting up every morning and going to work. He would work all day, leave in the morning and come back in the evenings. That instilled in us the same attitude of work.”
This family, full of Black history, has more history to make -- and that starts with what they already have.
"It has to start with the family," Dr. Turner said. "It can't just be about you, it's got to be about others as well."