Two children have lost a father, a loving wife has lost a life partner and the wider Tamworth community has lost a valued member.

Every death is a tragedy, but the murder of a public servant on duty is an act of unspeakable horror.

And while the alleged offender will face his day of reckoning in the courts, the focus for those close to the Turners is one of support, not vengeance.

A torrent of grief, empathy and goodwill have flowed from all corners of the region, many posting tributes to a man they have never met.

Others have shed a tear or shared a prayer for a family confronting its darkest hour.

Friends and family are remembering Glen Turner as a man of deep and varied passions – among them music, cooking, the environment – and as a devoted family man.

Within hours of his death, members of the close-knit Croppa Creek community had already established a fund for the family.

The remarkable community support again reminds us that a genuinely strong community wields an extraordinary power to heal.

Hope can shine from life’s bleakest corners and, while nothing can erase the senseless nature of Mr Turner’s death, the cascade of support will be felt by the people hurting most.

The touching humanity showed is in sharp contrast to the actions of some in the national media, who intruded on the grief of loved ones by knocking on their doors and camping outside their homes yesterday.

Likewise, the hand-wringing over native vegetation laws and how the Department of Environment and Heritage prosecutes them is ill-placed at this time.

Now is a time to remember Mr Turner for what he was, not use his death as political capital.