Elinor Juliette Renner

Elinor Juliette Renner, age 91 of Okemos, Michigan, passed away Friday evening, February 14, 2020 after a long and full life. Elinor was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Anselma (Hasenfratz) and Julius Schmitt on March 1, 1928. She married Lt. Raymond C. Renner in Germany in 1952. They returned on a troop ship to the United States and lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Raymond became a dentist. They spent their next thirty years in East Lansing, Michigan. Elinor continued her education at Michigan State University, where she received a B.A., as well as an M.A. in European History. She taught Humanities at Lansing Community College and was the office manager of her husband’s dental practice.

Elinor enjoyed being a homemaker and wife, as well as mother to her two daughters. She loved her German Shepherds, and her flower gardens. Elinor enjoyed cooking for the grandchildren, sewing, snow skiing, sailing, golf, reading, knitting and crocheting, working jigsaw puzzles and playing Scrabble. Elinor and Ray loved the cottage on Otsego Lake; they raised the girls ‘at the beach’ with the Arbutus Beach ‘gang’. When Ray retired they moved to Gaylord, MI and sailed in the British Virgin Islands in the winter months, and in later years lived winters in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Elinor is predeceased by her husband, Raymond C. Renner, to whom she was married for 57 years. She is also predeceased by three sisters: Yvonne Braun, Margot Herfeldt and Denise Hobeck.

She is survived by two daughters and four grandchildren: Dr. Monica (Wayne) Stone of Thomaston, Georgia and her children, Jason (Kayla) Figg of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Brendan Figg of Austin, Texas, and Dr. Karen Renner, of East Lansing, Michigan and her children Thomas VanderMaas of Haslett, Michigan, and Kaitlin VanderMaas of Denver, Colorado.

Services will be held Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 3 p.m. at the Gorsline Runciman Funeral Home in East Lansing, Michigan. Visitation will be from 1-3 p.m. prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the charity of one's choice in remembrance of Elinor.

The family would like to express their sincere appreciation to the staff on Assisted Living at the Willows of Okemos where Elinor resided for the past five years. We are very thankful for their caring and compassion, especially over the past year.

Memories and condolences may be shared at www.greastlansing.com