eliana turina

Long-Time Charities Employee Eliana Turina Retires

By Alfonso Aguilar
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 1/25/07)

After 28 years of service at the diocesan office of Catholic Charities, Eliana V. Turina, associate director of community services, will retire next month.
“It’s time to go. It’s good to open doors to new people, to new ideas,” said Turina, a native of Chile and long time parishioner and volunteer at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Falls Church. The parish celebrated a Mass in recognition of her years of service on Jan. 21.
A professional chemist, Turina arrived in this country in 1965 to teach Spanish at St. Louis University in Missouri.
“I taught a Peace Corps group going to Honduras,” she recalled.
In the early ‘70s Turina worked as a research professor for the Center for Pedagogical Development, Experimentation and Research in Chile, and was also assistant editor for the Chilean Journal of Chemical Education. She also taught chemistry at the University of Chile.
In 1978, Turina reestablished residence in Virginia. At Catholic Charities she has been secretary, receptionist, clerical supervisor, administrative assistant, and assistant to the executive, before assuming her current post.
“When I took the first job I thought I would be here only three months,” she said. “But I remained because I liked the emotional, social issues involved in the office. The most rewarding aspect of my job is to see happy endings for the clients served.”
“She will certainly be missed for her love and commitment after 28 years serving the poor and needy, especially within the immigrant populations,” said Steve Luteran, executive director at Catholic Charities.
Luteran also mentioned that Turina “helped us to lead and guide the growth of the agency, that currently serves 25,000 yearly.”
Father Charles C. McCoart, former director at Catholic Charities and currently pastor at Good Shepherd Parish in Alexandria remembered that during the weekly “admin” meetings, Turina always said, “just because we have always done it that way in the past does not mean that we have to always do things the same old way now or in the future.”
“Eliana’s openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout Catholic Charities was just one of the many great gifts she taught us. Eliana lived her professional life at CCDA open to God’s Spirit, she inspired me then, and she inspires me to this day,” said Father McCoart.
Turina and her husband, Aldo Turina, have two daughters, Rossana and Andrea, and a son, Felipe. Her family speaks four languages — English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
Turina said she will spend her retirement “traveling, doing home projects and volunteering.”
As a volunteer, she has served in groups such as Pathway Homes, and United Way Employee’s Campaign, where she was the chair from 1981 through 1988.