Dean F. Turner, 81, a former member of the Indiana State Fair Board and one of Hendricks County’s most prominent farmers and Democrats, died Sunday at an Indianapolis hospital after an illness.

Services will be at 11 a.m. today at Plainfield Friends Meeting on Main Street in Plainfield. Calling was Wednesday at the Hampton Gentry Funeral Home, Plainfield.

Known for his down-to-earth approach to business, farming and government, “Dean was a top-notch guy who always told it like it is, even if you didn’t agree,” said longtime neighbor and Hendricks County Fair Board member Ralph Dunkin.

Turner and his wife, Carolyn, were involved with 4-H programs for more than six decadesand with the Fair Board for 36 years.

He served on the Indiana State Fair Board and the State Fair Commission — appointed to represent a district of 19 west central Indiana counties — during the 1990s.

Turner also was elected in the 1970s to the Hendricks County Council. He was the last Democrat elected to countywide office in the Republican-dominated county.

He later served on the County Plan Commission, helping to shape the development of Hendricks County in the western portion of the Indianapolis metro region and preparing it for the explosion of growth it experienced during the 1990s.

It was his opposition to the incorporation of Avon as a town covering all of Washington Township that eventually helped reshape and scale down the size of the town when it was officially formed in 1995.

The Turner family farm along Dan Jones Road formed a buffer of unannexed area between Avon and Plainfield.

He also formerly was president of the Avon School Board and was the current president of the holding corporation for constructing new school buildings. He was a current member of the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Merit Board.