John Reese Thurman III, 79, passed away at home on Oct. 21, 2020, after a lengthy battle with cancer.
In 1970 he accepted a position with the Tennessee Valley Authority and moved with wife Kathleen to Norris. During his tenure, he worked as a wildlife biologist and as manager of corporate environmental auditing and assessment. After retiring, John discovered his true passion, aquatic entomology, and spent several years conducting aquatic invertebrate assessments on the Tennessee River watershed, again working for TVA.
He loved to share his knowledge of river ecology and fly fishing, especially to youth. He mentored Boy Scouts as they earned fishing and fly-fishing merit badges. He assisted with the construction of a natural pond system at Norris Elementary School. And he helped develop the Kids in the Creek program.
Mr. Thurman was the moving force behind the creation of Trout Unlimited Great Smoky Mountain Trout Adventure Camp. In 2014, John was awarded the national Youth Education Leadership Award by Trout Unlimited. In October, the camp was renamed in his honor: The John Thurman Smoky Mountain Trout Adventure Camp.
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