Volume 24,
Number 3

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January 2000
"DR. M. J. RENNER, THE FLYING DOCTOR"
Dr. Renner was born April 11, 1896 in Vinland, Kansas, the son of Alloyius and Katherine (Landwerden) R. Renner.  He was the ninth of 10 children, Dr. Renner was reared on a farm from which, on clear days, he could see the buildings of Mount Oread.  "We worked mighty hard," Dr. Renner said.  "Father was an emigrant who had fled from Alsace-Lorranien when Napoleon III lost the Franco-Prussian War to the Germans.   He made his way through high school raising tomatoes and worked his way through the University of Kansas pitching wheat, painting steel bridges and operating steam and gas engines duringvacation".  Dr. Renner graduated from the University of Kansas in 1920 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Medicine.  He was a member of Nu Sigma Nu, medical fraternity, during his college years, and served as an intern in the Cleveland City Hospital in 1923.  He was assistant surgical resident in 1924 and surgical resident in 1925 and 1926.
 

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Dr. M.J. Renner - 1933
The strain of graduating first in his class from the University of Kansas school of Medicine, membership in the Nu Sigma Nu Medical Fraternity, enlistment in World War I Medical Corps, followed by internship at Cleveland General Hospital and various residencies in pathology and surgery, coupled with extra duties (assistant professor and Chief Resident in Surgery), took their toll.  He collapsed, with a severe case of pneumonia.  He regained consciousness weeks later in Cleveland Hospital only to learn that fellow physicians had diagnosed his condition as terminal.

Believing he had only a few months to live, "Doc" (also known as M J or Marion J. Renner) turned down offers of professorships in various specialties and medical partnerships in Cleveland, Ohio and Kansas City, Kansas, and drove to Western Kansas in 1925 where his older brother was managing a custom harvest crew.  He found that he was feeling better and at the suggestion of his brother he stayed and roomed with Ben Hibbs, who later was named editor of The Saturday Evening Post.  He shared an office over the old Higdon building (1008 Main) with Dr. Beckner, establishing a medical and surgical practice in Goodland in 1926.

When Dr. Renner was 30 years of age, he met Gertrude Horney of Brewester.  They were married on Nov. 28, 1928.  Gertrude's outgoing personality and her ability to cope with the extraordinary demands made on a doctor's wife, were an asset to the shy, dedicated physician in overcoming his self-consciousness and furthering his ability to communicate with people.  She was always there.  On Dec. 25, 1933, their daughter, Sarah, (Sally) was born.  He devoted much of his time to civic projects and was a director of the Goodland State Bank and former member and director of the Goodland Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Northwest Kansas Medical Society and former secretary of the Sherman County Medical Society.

"Doc" Renner's enthusiasm for aviation began when he decided he wanted to fly for the Army in World War I.   However, Renner failed to pass the physical examination to enter the Army Air Corps.  This did not stop the doctor from learning to fly.  He bought his first airplane and learned to fly a few weeks later.  He received his pilot's license in 1932.  The first plane he owned was and Alexander Eagle Rock A-129, "the Anteater," purchased in 1931.  He owned fourteen different airplanes during his years as an active aviator.  Some of the planes he owned were various types of aircraft; two Wacos, a Dart, an Interstate Cadet, a Fairchild with a Warner Radial Engine, a Stinson with a 75-hp Continental, another Model 108 Voyager with its Franklin 6 and lastly a Cessna 170 in which he later installed the 180-hp Lycoming conversion.

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Dr. and Mrs. M.J. Renner by their Dart Airplane in the 1940's.

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Dr. M.J. Renner and Victor Follett by Dr. Renner's 1941 Stinson 105 - 80hp.  Victor taught Doc to fly in 1932.
Dr. Renner, widely known and highly regarded in medical circles throughout the country, was one of the first doctors to utilize an airplane to service patients,  In this case, in rural areas.  He found that the fastest way to reach a patient was to fly in an airplane.  Dr. M. J. Renner, known to many around the Northwest Kansas territory as the "Flying Doctor," would fly as far as 50 miles every day to see a heart patient.  He was known to have flown 300 miles to treat a patient in one instance.  He was at one time featured in Look Magazine, in an article calling him "The Flying Doctor".  He has had his races with the stork.  Once, he had to fly over 15 miles of flooded lands with impassable roads to deliver several babies.  And upon several occasions, he has flown serious cases back to the Boothroy Memorial Hospital, where he was chief surgeon, for emergency treatment.  Even in the deep snow of a heavy winter, Dr. Renner would land his plane on a bare patch between drifts at some ranch and take a desperately ill or injured patient to the hospital.  Such fast work often meant the difference between life and death.

Because of the great esteem in which patients and friends held him in a 100-mile radius of Goodland, Dr. Renner was featured on the cover of the University of Kansas Graduate magazine.  "An airplane is a pair of seven-league boots to a country doctor," Dr. Renner wrote Ken Postlethwaite and Fred Ellsworth, editors of the magazine.  "He said he couldn't have been able to carry on the work he had been doing for many years, emergency trips of up to 300 miles to isolated ranches, and consultations and operation in other towns, without his plane.   It would have been impossible," he said.

He never had problems with money or collection.  His system is based on the premise that most people are honest and his fees were not high.  No one was refused service because of inability to pay.  He said "Medicine is a religion; the high and the low, the rich and the poor receive the same regardless of money."  People use to pay with vegetables, livestock and even once with moonshine.  He drew the line at chickens.  If they wanted to give him poultry, he figured they needed them more than he did.  He told them to pay him later.
 

He was instrumental in obtaining for the City of Goodland - and the local - the current Municipal Airport, which, in 1966, was named in his honor.  Renner Field also lays claim to being the home of this area's only National Weather Service Office and Federal Aviation facility.  Dr. Renner flew the first air mail letters out of Goodland to Norton and Salina in May 1939.

Dr. Renner's notoriety in aviation circles resulted in 400 glider pilots coming to Goodland for training for 60 days and nights to fight the war in European and Pacific Theaters of war during WWII.  Dr. Renner received a call one evening from Washington D.C., informing him that seven flat landing surfaces were needed around Goodland for glider pilot training.  Within 24 hours, he had obtained six fields surrounding the airport and signed the owners up for government leases on the land.  Ten days later, the 400 pilots arrived.
 

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"A Fairchild 24 taken the day I flew the US Mail".  Left to Right: Dr. M.J. Renner, Postmaster Edd Elder, unidentified person.
Dr. Renner was a fishing enthusiast and spent countless hours on the banks of creeks and rivers in pursuit of the ones that tried to get away.  He also loved photography and had a complete laboratory in the basement of his Goodland home.  "I hunt," he said, "with a long-range camera because I hate to kill anything."  Another love of Dr. Renner's was gardening.

Dr. Renner retired from the practice of medicine in 1960, after serving for 47 years.  Something Dr. Renner was especially proud of, but little publicized, was that he was a member of the American College of Surgeons since 1936.  He died July 8, 1978, at his home in Goodland.

Pictures, Articles & Information for this article are courtesy of Mrs. M.J. (Gertrude) Renner and Sally Renner Farr.

We have included the photographs from the newsletter.  If you are not already a member, please consider joining the Sherman County Historical Society.  With your membership you will receive the quarterly newsletter delivered to your home, complete with photographs, while at the same time helping to preserve the history of Sherman County.  Join the Historical Society
 

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Dr. M.J. Renner graduated from the University of Kansas Medical School in 1922.
HOMESTEADERS TO BE HONORED

Twenty-Eight families who are still framing the original homesteads established by their ancestors in early Sherman County will be honored at a special ceremony on January 15, 2000 at 2:00pm at the Goodland Public Library during the Sherman County Historical Society's Annual Meeting.

Evelyn Ward, Chairman of the project, has requested we remind our members if they are aware of any other residents that are still working or working and living on the original homestead, to please inform her.  This is a unique situation and we certainly don't want to inadvertently exclude any family.

Call Evelyn at 899-3351, or any other Board member with the information.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!

The Sherman County Historical Society would like you to make plans to attend a special guest speaker April 29, 2000.

Sharon DeBartolo Carmack of Simla Colorado, is a certified genealogical record specialist with an emphasis on Italian-American family and social history research.  She also specializes in writing and editing narrative family histories that place ancestors into historical perspective.  Sharon writes a genealogical column for Reunions magazine, for which she won first place in the Council of Genealogy Columnists' Excellence in Writing Competition (1996), and she also writes a column for the FGS Forum on editing genealogical periodicals.

Sharon is a frequent lecturer at local, regional, and national genealogical conferences, having spoken to genealogical and historical organizations in twenty states.  In January 1997, she appeared as a guest on the new PBS television series "Ancestors."

More information will be coming your way about Sharon in March.

RENNER DISPLAY DEDICATION

Join the Sherman County Historical Society Sunday January 16 at 1:30 pm in the Goodland Municipal Airport located at Renner Field for a dedication of the Dr. M.J. Renner Display.  Connie Hatcher, Gennifer House and Millie Wright recently renovated the display which will be dedicated on January 16th.

YEAR 2000 CALENDAR

There are still a few calendars left to buy.   The cost is now $15 and they can be purchased at the High Plains Museum or Knott Just Books, formerly the Family Bookstore.  Or, if you would like, send $15 plus $3 shipping to the Sherman County Historical Society, PO Box 684, Goodland, KS  67735.   We will not be reprinting the calendar so please get your calendar soon.

SHERMAN COUNTY ONE ROOM SCHOOLS

The Historical Society is currently gathering information on the students and teachers of the Sherman County One Room School Houses.   We would appreciate any stories or photos of past experiences while attending school.