Dentist was Rotary Club officer
5/15/2004MONROE - Dr. Francis J. "Bud" Dorner, a dentist who co-founded a medical practice that expanded over nearly four decades, died Thursday in Mercy Memorial Hospital here. He was 90.
The family did not know the cause of death, his granddaughter Patty Thomspon said.
Dr. Dorner founded his dental practice in the late 1940s with a doctor, and a pharmacist joined them shortly thereafter, his granddaughter said.
"They kind of became like a medical center," she said.
By the time he retired in 1983, the practice had grown and several other dentists had joined it.
Dr. Dorner was a lifetime member of the Michigan Dental Association.
Mrs. Thomspon said he probably became interested in dentistry because his father-in-law was a dentist.
Dr. Dorner was born in Monroe Dec. 27, 1913, to Carl and Edith Dorner. He graduated from Monroe High School in 1932 and from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry in 1937.
In 1935, he married the former Betty Sprague. She died in 1974. In 1975, he married Ruth E. Lacure-Liedel. She died April 29.
Dr. Dorner served as a lieutenant in the Navy Dental Corps from 1944 to 1946.
He was a member of the Monroe Rotary Club for 58 years, holding every office at some time. Dr. Dorner was president from 1969 to 1970 and was a Paul Harris Fellow.
"He was always really looking for a way to make things better in the community, or internationally too," his granddaughter said.
He traveled with the University of Michigan alumni club at least once a year.
"He has a map in his basement that has pins in all the countries he's been to," his granddaughter said.
For 50 years, he was a member of the Monroe industrial bowling league.
Dr. Dorner was a member of Christ Lutheran Church, where he served on the board for 12 years. He also was a member of the board of directors of the Monroe Golf and Country Club.
He enjoyed duck hunting.
Surviving are his daughters, Marguerite Thomas, Mary Penley, Catherine Burger, and Pamela Bauder; seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 2 p.m. today in the Allore Funeral Home.
The family suggests tributes to the Bud Dorner Rotary Scholarship Fund.