John Runnels Obituary

Former Topeka neurosurgeon, Dr. John "Jack" Benton Runnels Jr, and husband of Lawrence native, Judith Cotton Runnels, died on March 6, 2018 due to complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 82.

Jack was born in Hutchinson, KS to Dorothy Fearl and John B. Runnels. After graduating from Lyons High, Jack was recruited by KU basketball coaching legend Phog Allen and played basketball at KU as a freshman until a knee injury kept him permanently sidelined. At KU, Jack worked as a waiter at the Pi Phi Sorority house and in a campus laboratory; indeed, several sorority members fondly remember Jack as the handsome waiter who reeked of formaldehyde from his lab work. At KU, Jack met his future wife, Judy Cotton, daughter of Corlett and Nell Cotton, and they married while he attended KU Med School. Jack went on to complete neurosurgery residency at Stanford University.

In 1963, Jack volunteered for the Navy, training as a wing flight surgeon and serving in the Vietnam War. He spent seven months in the South China Sea on the Aircraft Carrier USS Independence. In 1972, Jack and his family moved to Topeka, Kansas, where he accepted a position as a neurosurgeon at The Menninger Foundation, practicing for 18 years before returning to Palo Alto and continuing to practice neurosurgery at the Palo Alto Clinic and VA Hospital.

At 6' 5" tall, Jack was a giant of a man, but a gentle and graceful giant with a fearsome intellect. He is remembered fondly as a rare breed of surgeon that treated hospital and medical office employees with unfailing kindness and respect. He loved theatre (in particular Shakespeare), music, history, and reading and was a brilliant writer himself.

After retiring to Weed, CA in 2002, Jack lost Judy, his wife of 45 years, to cancer. He remarried in 2005 to Linda Sue Gerber.

Jack is survived by his wife Linda Sue of Eagle Point, OR, his sister, Diane Beyer Perett (Greg) of Arlington, Va, his three children, John Runnels (Donna) of Denver, CO, Ruthmarie Runnels of Mt. Shasta, CA and Laura Fleming (Lou) of Pasadena, CA and five grandsons.

Jack's Life Celebration will be held at Stanford Faculty Club April 21, 2018 at 12:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to "KU Endowment – Alzheimer's Research": KU Endowment, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., MS 3012, Kansas City, KS 66160 (www.kuendowment.org/AlzheimerRsch)