Martin Renner's Obituary
Martin Hettinger Renner, 90 of St. Petersburg, Florida passed away peacefully in his sleep early Saturday morning, September 2, 2023.
Martin was born May 23, 1933 in Madison, Nebraska. He was originally named Clarence but it was soon changed to Martin after his great, great, great, great grandfather born in 1746 in Schwabisch Hall, Germany. Martin’s middle name, Hettinger, was his paternal grandmother’s family name in Schwabisch Hall, Germany in the 1860s.
Martin was stillborn and after repeated attempts by the physician to revive him, his mother Marie prayed to God to bring him to life, vowing that Martin would pursue a life of ministry if he lived. She pleaded with the doctor to try one more time and he did so, successfully, to the great benefit of so many of us.
Martin attended St. Paul’s High School in Concordia, Missouri and then junior college in Winfield, Kansas. After that, he began seminary training at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, fulfilling the promise made by his mother at the time of Martin’s birth.
While at seminary in St. Louis, Martin earned money as a busboy to pay for his schooling, cleaning cafeteria tables in the women’s dormitory at nearby Washington University. While working one day, he noticed a tall pretty girl across the cafeteria named Elizabeth (Betty) Bergen who was getting her Master’s degree at Wash U. He exclaimed to a friend, “That’s the girl I’m going to marry!”
After eventually working up the nerve to introduce himself and ask her out on a date, Martin proved that persistence does pay off and that fulfilling promises seemed to be a genuine family trait. Martin and Betty were married in Geneseo, Illinois in December, 1957 and they went on to have three children – Anne, Kristi and Scott.
Martin was ordained as a minister in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in July, 1958 in Butte, Nebraska and Betty began her involvement with children’s programs and eventually children’s education among other things. Over the years, Martin became minister at several other churches located in Omaha, Nebraska; Coal Valley, Illinois; Ortonville, Minnesota and finally Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in North Ft. Myers, Florida.
At the time of his arrival, Good Shepherd was a tiny congregation with a preschool and kindergarten. Martin and Betty partnered in ministry at Good Shepherd with Martin seeking to grow the church as lead pastor and Betty focusing on growing the school as principal while also teaching kindergarten.
In their 26 years at Good Shepherd, the church undertook several building programs including a beautiful new sanctuary and classrooms that eventually supported a school of over 500 students in pre-school through the 8th grade. More importantly, Martin and Betty impacted so many lives for the better -- whether they were church members, visitors, students or teachers -- during their time at Good Shepherd.
Martin was a man of many talents and there were few things he couldn’t figure out how to do if he set his mind to it. His determination, persistence and patience enabled him to accomplish many things that others could not. While he was a minister in Coal Valley, Martin designed and built most of the house for his family to live in. He was involved in major building programs for the churches in Omaha, Coal Valley and as previously mentioned in North Ft. Myers.
Martin enjoyed fishing, tracking the weather and tracing his genealogical roots. A life highlight was a family trip to Germany in 2007 in honor of Martin and Betty’s 50th wedding anniversary. Martin met with the mayor of Schwabisch Hall and was able to look through their official records to trace his family roots much further back than he ever had before. He compiled a Renner Family History book and gave a copy to everyone in his immediate family.
Martin was a reserved man with a calm, sweet spirit. He led by example and he let his actions speak louder than any attempt to convince with words. He also had a strong sense of humor and an infectious smile – a sly curl of his lips was a telltale sign that something funny was forthcoming.
Martin’s legacy in life was to provide an example of how to live a life with integrity, full of purpose, and how to leave this world a much better place for having been in it. He was humble to his core and he viewed his life as an opportunity to serve others. If he were here with us today, he would encourage us to focus not on physical things but on spiritual things and to think about others before ourselves.
He would encourage us to put our faith and love and trust in God for our own welfare. This sentiment is captured in John 3:16, one of his favorite Bible verses. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” By virtue of his extraordinary life and legacy, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Martin has fulfilled this promise as well.
Martin was preceded in death by Elizabeth Anne (Betty) Renner of Geneseo, Illinois, his beloved wife of 55 years on March 9th, 2013.
Martin is survived by: two daughters, Anne (James) Schickowski of Acworth, Georgia and Kristi Renner of St. Petersburg, Florida; a son Scott (Analia) Renner of St. Petersburg, Florida and four grandchildren: Joshua Minneti of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Lauren Minneti of Brooklyn, New York; Christian Renner of Cambridge, Massachusetts and Cameron Renner of Sarasota, Florida.
A celebration of life will be held for Martin on Friday at 11:15 A.M. at Memorial Park Funeral Home, 5750 49th Street North, St. Petersburg, Florida. A brief reception and time of fellowship will follow.
Martin’s family would like to express their appreciation to Suncoast Hospice for their attentive provision of Martin’s palliative care.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Martin can be made to Suncoast Hospice Foundation, 5771 Roosevelt Boulevard, Clearwater, Florida or to the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Disaster Relief Fund.
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